


Forget-Me-Not

by Chaunceytron



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Multi, Original Character(s), POV Original Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-18
Updated: 2017-11-10
Packaged: 2018-09-18 09:44:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 43
Words: 42,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9378992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaunceytron/pseuds/Chaunceytron
Summary: The Mistress has a new companion, Lucy Allen. Lucy was once a promising, engineering student, but circumstances placed her in the path of The Mistress. Now she must try to survive alien planets in an effort to explore the stars.





	1. Esther

The doorbell rang loudly down the hall. Emily looked up from the laundry and saw Lucy rounding the corner on her way into the foyer. Emily sighed and continued sorting the laundry. She had only worked at the Smits estate for the last two weeks, but she could already sense that something was off about the place. For starters, her employer Esther Smits was a strange one. She rarely came out of the garage and would give orders in a sickeningly sweet manner with a strange Scottish accent.  


Besides who would name their child "Esther"? Maybe it's a family name, but that still seems kind of cruel. Emily thought to herself as she threw a sock into the whites bin.

And the butler was even stranger. Lucy always wore a black suit, black gloves, and a smile that never truly reached her eyes. Emily liked to think of her privately as "The Doll." With her ebony black hair, gray eyes, and light toned skin, Lucy looked like one of those porcelain dolls. Some people found those dolls charming, but Emily had always thought that they looked incredibly creepy. So she tried to avoid Lucy whenever possible. Although to be fair, Lucy had never been cruel or antagonizing, and in fact Lucy was always on hand when the other maids needed help.

Emily had brought up Lucy before to the other maids to see if they knew anything about her or their employer, but that hadn't amounted to anything. In fact they didn't even seem bothered by their mysterious employer.

"She pays us well, and it's more fun not knowing. We like to make up stories about them. See who can tell the funniest one," Mary had replied, giggling.

"What kind of stories?" Emily had asked.

"Well, I've got money on Lucy and Miss Smits being secret lovers. I swear that I've seen the miss leaving Lucy's room late one night," Ally had added in a conspiratorial manner. "But Mary thinks that they're really secret agents sent here to investigate illegal aliens."

Emily shook her head as she tried to put their silly antics out of her mind. The other maids were silly at best, but Emily supposed that was how they handled the strangeness of this place.

Lucy came striding into the room, and Emily internally cringed but put on a brave face. "Is there anything that I can help you with?" Emily asked as she started to put a load into the machine, hoping that Lucy would get the hint that she was already busy.

"Ah, not really. I just came here to ask if you wanted your mail personally or for me to leave it in the slot. I figured since you were down here already you might be happy to take a little break."

Lucy hadn't moved any closer into the room for which Emily was grateful. Emily was frustrated with herself for how hard to interact with Lucy, but she couldn't shake these weird vibes she got whenever Lucy was around.

"It's okay to just leave it in the slot. I'll get to it later," Emily said as she twisted the dials on the machine.

Lucy was no longer wearing her trademark smile, and Emily was startled for a moment. It seemed as if Lucy had something difficult to tell Emily, but then she smiled again and walked out.

Emily thought that was strange but kept working. As the sun began to set, she started walking to her room and grabbed her mail from the slot. She noticed one had her mother's address written on it and she felt dread in the pit of her stomach. Emily's father had died a month ago, and her mother hadn't taken it well. Emily opened the letter with shaking hands. Luckily this letter was like all of the rest. Her mother confided her loneliness with each letter and would always ask when Emily would be coming to visit. Normally she would just fold it back up and put it in her dresser, but this time she couldn't. Perhaps it was because of the fact that she was tired and so far from home, but she couldn't stop crying. She let the tears fall and sat on her bed.

Emily heard the other two maids laughing outside the room and decided to indulge her self-pity elsewhere. She sneaked out of the house, carefully dodging the other inhabitants on the way. She walked out into the woods and found a small clearing. She heard odd sounds coming from it and briefly wondered if she should go get someone else to come with her, but then she heard Miss Smits' voice and relaxed. She walked into the clearing and couldn't believe her eyes. There was a small hut, or rather it appeared small but as she looked into the opening she could see that it was much larger on the inside. She knew that she should probably walk quickly back to the house, but her feet seemed to have become rooted to the ground.

"Well then, hello, sweetie. Just what are you doing out here this late at night?" Miss Smits appeared in the doorway.

"Ah... um... I didn't mean to-" stammered Emily, mentally trying to find some way to make this all fit together.

"Now, now. No need to worry. You and I are just going to have a little talk. And you're going to listen, and you will obey," as Miss Smits looked into Emily's eyes, and the world seemed to fade to oblivion.


	2. The Butler and Her Mistress

Lucy shook her head as she looked at Emily unconscious on the bed. She looked at The Mistress and sighed, "What did you do now?"

"I just... adjusted her memory. Oh, don't give me that look. I could have killed her. It would have saved us a lot of trouble," The Mistress said, defensively crossing her arms.

Lucy replied, "The problem isn't that you wiped her memory or repressed it or whatever the hell you did. The problem is what happens afterward."

The Mistress rolled her eyes and laughed, "Because they become a little more docile. I count that as a plus, love."

"I hardly doubt that their family members would count that as a plus, love," she retorted mockingly. "Now I so much as suggest something, and Ally and Mary jump to do it. ...It's not right."

"Ally and Mary... so that's their names. Sometimes I forget. They're not very memorable, are they?" The Mistress asked almost serenely as though they were discussing the weather.

Lucy said nothing as she checked Emily scrapes. She knew it did no good to argue with The Mistress when she was in one of her moods.

The Mistress sighed and uncrossed her arms, "I chose these maids specifically because I knew if something went a little bit... wrong, no one would ask questions. The only relative she has is in the loony bin, and she's not going to be taken very seriously." The Mistress noticed the tension Lucy was giving off in waves and decided to tone it down. "Okay then. What would you have me do? Let her tell everyone. No, I can't afford that." Noticing Lucy's irritation at her statement, she coaxed, "We can't afford that. Besides, we're getting close to completion."

At that Lucy turned around and looked The Mistress with surprise, she felt her face light up and worked to stifle it. No, The Mistress is only saying this for her reaction... but there was real joy in the Mistress's eyes. It had been two years since they had first started rebuilding the TARDIS. Were they really almost there? Lucy finished applying the bandages and said quietly, "Let's go."

The Mistress smiled her Cheshire grin and led Lucy out, closing the door behind them. There was a bounce in her step on the way to the TARDIS. Lucy hoped that this meant that the TARDIS only required a few more items. As they entered, Lucy looked up towards the manor. She couldn't see the manor from here, but she silently hoped that the other maids were asleep. She turned back towards the Mistress and saw the Mistress almost dancing with excitement.

"The good news is she can fly now. The bad news is it's a one-time trip and we'd need to refuel directly after, and the time mechanism isn't working as well as it should. So we'll need to get some special parts, but other than that she's finished." The Mistress was still grinning with excitement. Lucy couldn't help but find The Mistresses' joy infectious. However, she was wary about the 'special parts.'

"What kind of parts do we need? Are they expensive or just hard to find?" Lucy couldn't think of any other reason The Mistress wouldn't already have those parts. They had spent two years either finding or constructing the parts that were broken or missing.

"Weeeeeell... A bit of both. You see, the mechanism isn't running as smoothly as it should so we'll need a special kind of fiber, which doesn't exist on this planet."

"So it's an alien 'fiber'?" Lucy asked somewhat hesitantly. She didn't really like the sound of that.

"In a manner of speaking, yes. There's a special race of aliens that make it, which I guess the closest creature you would compare them to is a spider."

"Oh, that sounds lovely."

The Mistress laughed and continued, "But before we get that, we'll need something for a boost. Their home planet Psuedici is quite far away, so we'll have to make a stop on planet Fantazix to get a particular chemical."

"And that will help us reach Spider City," responded Lucy. "So what's Fantazix like? Any wasp aliens I need to know about?"

"Not on Fantazix. No, they are... rather strange."

Lucy would have much rather heard that they're aren't wasp aliens, but she decided to settle for hoping that they wouldn't encounter any. "Stranger than you?" Lucy asked smirking.

The Mistress gestured theatrically, "You just don't understand my brilliance, but no. The Fantazix don't really have a default form. They take the form and customs of which ever planet they're closest to, and right now that's Earth."

Lucy sighed, relieved that at least one of the planets wasn't going to be that difficult.

"Oh, and I forgot. I have clothes for you," The Mistress goes into the walk-in closet and pulls out a dress.

"Oh, hell no," Lucy whispered. The Mistress was holding up a puce 'Cinderella-esque' dress with layers upon layers.

"They're a bit behind the times," said The Mistress with her catlike grin.


	3. Lucy-rella

The TARDIS had somehow made it safely to Fantazix, although barely. Lucy was still amazed and shell-shocked at the controls and speed of their ship; the Mistress laughing insanely the entire time they were flying the plane didn't help matters either. Lucy stopped sweeping for a second to breath a sigh of relief.

"Who said you could take a break?!" the Mistress called out bitterly. 

Lucy smiled and continued her work. The Mistress was still pouting over the fact that Lucy wouldn't wear that abomination of a dress, so the Mistress had to give her a servant's dress instead. Fantazix seemed to be a world of Earth's most beloved fairy tales. If Lucy had to guess which one they were in, it'd be Cinderella, which is how Lucy talked her way into the servant's role. A princess never won in that scenario , and they needed a way into the castle. 

The plan was to let Lucy distract the prince, and maybe even the guards, while the Mistress found what they needed. At midnight the Mistress would steal the magical 'MacGuffin,' and they'd use the TARDIS' cloaking device to stay hidden. Then they'd be able to go to Spider-Planet and get the 'fiber'. Now the problem was that they didn't really have enough people to go the Cinderella route, but the Mistress was capricious enough that Lucy figured it'd work. Of course, Lucy hadn't said it that way to her Mistress. She'd said something about how the Mistress was brilliant enough to play multiple roles.

The Mistress looked irritated that Lucy hadn't rose to her challenge and stalked off. Lucy sighed in relief. With the Mistress it could go much worse than that. She took a look around the outside of the TARDIS, fascinated by how much it had changed. It looked like a beautiful cottage now with a thatched roof and dainty windows. The Mistress had truly outdone herself, although Lucy would likely never admit it. 

It was almost time for some sort of ball, and Lucy wondered if the Mistress had done more planning than she'd led Lucy to believe. It wouldn't be the first time. She wandered back into the house to see the Mistress pulling out another dress. She stared at the Mistress with a deadpan expression; she'd thought they'd gotten rid of that plan.

"Oh, come on, Lucy! Lighten up! This one isn't as bad. The other one was mostly a joke anyway," the Mistress said airily. 

It was true. The dress the Mistress was holding was a light blue, which was already a much better choice. It still was too large for Lucy's liking, but it would fit the image. Lucy nodded and went to put on the dress. After she'd gotten it on, the Mistress helped her make sure it was secure. The Mistress went first to the ball to try to see if she could just court the prince and save Lucy the trouble, but Lucy had a feeling she'd just get roped into it anyways. 

Lucy watched her leave in a emerald carriage pulled by black horses. They'd found villagers willing to be their drivers, and Lucy was incredibly grateful. Walking in her dress would be a pain. She waited as her carriage pulled in to get her. A black carriage with brown horses was chosen for her, and to be honest she liked it. Lucy stroked on of the horses before getting into the carriage, and they were off to the ball. She was really just content to watch the scenery as they drove up to the castle. Rich, lush fields across the landscape; it was beautiful. Secretly, Lucy wondered if dealing with the Spider People would be more or less frightening. 

Soon they reached the castle, and Lucy looked for a way to sneak in without causing a ruckus. However, in her dress she'd be noticed immediately. She thanked her driver as she exited the carriage and walked to the entrance. There was a large entrance with a staircase, of course. No one acted strangely as she carefully descended the staircase; everyone continued, not even noticing her. Good, Lucy thought to herself. Hopefully the ball would be enough of a distraction, and Lucy wouldn't have to do anything but escape. 

But as she reached the final steps, the crowd parted. Everyone was looking now, and Lucy felt dread as she looked to the crowd. A handsome man with chiseled good looks stepped out of the crowd and held out a hand to her.

"Could I trouble my lady for a dance?"

Crap, Lucy thought to herself but smiled and answered, "Of course... my lord."

Obviously not picking up her hesitation, he flashed her a gorgeous smile as he gently guided her to the floor. Lucy was suddenly very grateful for that ballroom dance she took in college. Luckily it seemed to be some variation of a waltz, so Lucy could at least follow along. She just hoped she could keep 'Prince Charming' at bay long enough for the Mistress to get their magic chemical.


	4. A Long Way From Home

        Lucy tried not to be obvious as she peeked around the room. The Mistress was nowhere in sight, which could be either a very good thing or a very bad one. Knowing her Mistress, Lucy decided to have faith in her and keep her end of the bargain.

        "I haven't seen you before. Where are you from?" the mystery man asked her kindly as they spun on the dance floor. 

        "Ah, I'm a long way from home. You likely wouldn't know of it," Lucy tried to avoid his questions, although she wasn't lying. "I'd actually like to know more about you." Lucy could feel her face heat up a little; that was not a particularly brilliant deflection.

        The prince's face also flushed a bit before he spoke up again. "Not really much to say. My parents needed me to find a bride, so... they threw a ball to encourage me," he gestured quickly around them. 

        Lucky, Lucy thought to herself, but then second guessed herself. Wasn't this all going too smoothly? Lucy was happy that it was, but she couldn't shake the feeling of unease.

        "Is something wrong?" the prince asked with a look of worry on his face. 

        "I just didn't realize that I was dancing with tonight's star," Lucy explained as the prince pulled her a little closer to avoid hitting a passing couple. She could feel her face flush again and got angry at herself. Perhaps it was because she'd been in a house with girls for the last two years, but she was feeling extra aware of her dancing partner. Or perhaps it was some sort of alien pheromones. 

        "Are you feeling well? You look like you need some air," the prince said as he led her out a set of double doors. "I need to attend to my other guests, but I'll be back to check on you soon." He gave her another smile before walking back into the crowd. 

        Lucy took a deep breath and sat on a seat by the railing. She knew that she'd have to go back in there and try to get his attention again, but for now she just wanted to look at the stars. She heard a footstep behind her and quickly turned around to see who it was. Her Mistress stood there with a plastered on smile.

        "Having fun?"

        "I'd be having significantly more fun if you've found what we need," Lucy replied looking at her Mistress with hope.

        Her Mistress pouted and shook her head. "The guard is too high around it tonight. We'll have to try tomorrow."

        "What? Tomorrow?"

        "Yes, this fiasco goes on for three days. Unfortunately."

        "So the prince rejected your advances?"

        The Mistress stared open mouthed at Lucy in shock and retorted, "If I wanted him, he'd be putty in my hands. But I'll leave that to lesser people. Like you. I'm retiring for the night. Remember to sneak out at midnight. Bye."

        Lucy was shocked as the Mistress quickly left in a huff; he must have rejected her. That would not be good for him. Lucy felt sorry for the prince, but she would wait until the Mistress was gone then leave. There wasn't really much of a point to getting to know the prince tonight if she possibly had two more nights to distract him. Plus "absence makes the heart grow fonder" and all that jazz. She watched the Mistress' carriage take off into the night before walking back to the doors almost colliding with the prince.

        "Are you feeling better?" the prince asked with a glittering smile. 

        "Oh yes," Lucy smiled in return wondering if he had come to check on her.

        The prince quickly ran his fingers through his hair and held out his hand to her. "I was hoping that we could continue our dance."

        Lucy figured that if she left now it would be suspicious and he probably wouldn't approach her, so she returned his smile and took his arm in hers. 

        They danced around the ballroom, and despite herself, Lucy found that she was having fun. The prince also appeared to be having fun as they glided around the room. There were no more words exchanged between them; each just enjoying the dance and the other's company. 

        Suddenly Lucy heard the clock strike twelve, and she apologized to her dance partner. She quickly walked up the staircase, careful not to trip, and found her carriage. She felt someone lightly grab her arm and turned to see the prince looking at her in confusion.

        "I didn't get your name."

        Lucy started to think of an alias but blurted out, "Lucinda." She silently cursed herself for using her real name, but she knew that he likely couldn’t get anything from just her first name.

        He smiled and said, "Lucinda, you can call me Orion. I will see you tomorrow?"

        "Um, yes. You will."

        Orion let her go, and Lucy quickly got inside her carriage. She didn't turn around until she could barely make out the castle in the darkness. The light inside seemed to be dancing with the shadows outside as Lucy got further away.


	5. The Tower

The second night had gone about as well as the first, and Lucy could tell that The Mistress was getting nervous. They only had one more night to get what they needed. Even Lucy couldn’t help feeling the stress as The Mistress paced around the room muttering. Lucy also couldn’t help but feel like The Mistress was starting to create a personal vendetta against Prince Orion. The prince had not only unknowingly disrupted The Mistress’ plans, but he had committed a more odious crime. Choosing Lucy over The Mistress. 

Lucy watched The Mistress warily as she made preparations for tonight’s ball. The Mistress being on edge didn’t bode well for the night. Suddenly a bark of laugher came from The Mistress’ lips as she ran into the back room, and Lucy nearly dropped a plate in surprise. The Mistress came back into the room holding a small device. Grinning from ear to ear, she started working on the gadget and soon looked up to see Lucy’s curious look.

“It’s a cloaking device… much like the chameleon circuit in the TARDIS,” The Mistress explained with a glint in her eyes. It should allow me to take the place of one of the guards during tonight’s shift change. Then I’ll be able to get what we need and vamos. Onto the next planet.”

“So you don’t need me?” Lucy asked with a hopeful look. The prince’s attention had been flattering but draining, and the fact that she was stringing him along hadn’t escaped Lucy. She felt guilty but knew that this was necessary for the TARDIS. 

“Oh, dearie, I always need you. But I do need you to distract the pretty boy for tonight. After all, he seems to be in charge of the guards, so keeping him busy is a necessity. Plus… he seems rather fond of you,” The Mistress said bitterly, and Lucy prepared herself for trouble. “You want to stay here? Maybe someday you’ll even be queen of this wretched place.”

“Oh, Mistress, you know I’d never leave you,” Lucy snapped back irritably. “It’s not like that’s even his true… form anyway. He only looks human because of the planet’s positioning to Earth, right?”

“Right,” The Mistress replied as though somewhat satisfied. “Okay, I’m going to need for you to lure the prince away from the main hall of the castle.”

“How the hell do I do that?” 

“You’re smart. You’ll figure something out,” The Mistress said nonchalantly as she finished working on the gizmo.

Lucy huffed but didn’t respond. The Mistress was still likely angry about the prince choosing someone over her, and she was taking it out on Lucy. Figuring out a plan would be a more constructive use of Lucy’s time. She remembered that he had followed her out on both nights before saying goodbye and wondered if he would do so tonight. 

Soon it was time for the ball, and Lucy helped The Mistress into her dress before getting into her own. Once again they rode in their separate carriages as the sun peeked out from behind the hills. Lucy used the time in the carriage to think of a backup plan. Worst case scenario was her stealing something of the Prince’s and running, but she doubted that it would come to that. As she neared the castle, she noticed that there were less people tonight than there had been previously. Perhaps the first two nights had been too extreme for them.

Lucy thanked her driver and walked into the entrance room. The Mistress had already arrived, and Lucy was sure that she was on her way to get the chemical. Not knowing what they were even there for made Lucy anxious. She had been working on the TARDIS for quite some time now and had learned most of the parts, but The Mistress was particularly cagey about this particular ‘chemical.’ Lucy assumed that it had something to do with their ‘fuel crisis.’ Normally the TARDIS could be charged with the help of ‘rifts,’ but it seemed that their TARDIS needed a jump start of sorts.

“Lucinda!” Orion called out and took Lucy’s hands into his. He kissed her hand, and she felt her face get warm as she struggled not to take her hands away. “Come with me! I have something to show you.” He gave her a conspiratorial smile as he led her from the ballroom.

Lucy kept us with him as he led her to a large spiral staircase, and Orion helped her up the stairs to a balcony overlooking the castle. Stars winked in the sky above them. Lucy was charmed by the sight but gave Orion a confused look. He smiled at her sheepishly.

“I thought you might enjoy the view,” he said simply.

“Thank you… it is beautiful,” Lucy said and admired the stars. A sound made her look back to the prince, and she was startled to see him on his knee. This didn’t look good.

“Lucinda… I would like to ask you to be my Queen. There’s something almost… otherworldly about you, and you charm me.”

“Uh,” Lucy said unhelpfully. This had not been how she’d been expecting this night to go.

“I know it’s a bit rushed, but I couldn’t wait. I planned on waiting until later this evening… But I can’t. I need to have your answer now, so I may put the rest of the evening to good use.”

“Uh… and if I say ‘no’?”

“Dungeon. I jest,” Orion assured her. “If you say no, then I plan on using the rest of the night to convince you to say yes.” He held onto one of her hands and pulled her closer. “I know that you’ve felt it too.”

Lucy was at a loss for words when a very large blast shook the foundation, and she and the prince looked toward the shattered tower in shock.


	6. Blast Off

Lucy heard Orion calling to his guards, but she couldn’t move as she stared at the wreckage. This had not been in the plans. The Mistress was supposed to have snuck in and taken as much as they needed and left. Exactly just what had happened?

“Lucy! My guards are going to take you somewhere safe,” Orion told her and kissed her hand before he ran down the stairs ahead of her.

Lucy watched him hurry toward the tower before turning her attention to the guards: two bulky, towering dudes. They gestured for her to follow them, and she smiled at them sweetly. However, as they started to take her downstairs Lucy grabbed a decorative shield from the wall. It was heavy, but it would do. The first guard went down easily; surprise had been completely on her side. The second guard had time to brace himself before Lucy hit him with the shield. He stumbled a few steps. Lucy jumped around him as he struggled to regain his balance. She lost a shoe in the process as the guard tried to grab for her, but it could have been worse. A kick caught him in the temple. Lucy was free. Quickly running through the ballroom, she climbed the stairs to the exit and looked around outside. There were no carriages in sight, and the guards would be coming soon. 

Lucy pulled off the dress as she was wearing a tank top and shorts underneath. Glad that she had worn a backup plan, Lucy ran for the trees and hid in the bushes as she saw four more guards charge out of the castle. They went right past where she lay hidden. She waited another minute and looked around to see if the coast was clear. No more guards came out of the castle. It seemed that almost all of Orion’s available forces were working on finding The Mistress. 

Cutting through the underbrush, Lucy slowly made her way towards the TARDIS. The Mistress was likely either on her way there or already waiting. Lucy quickened her pace but stopped as she heard footsteps getting closer. Peering out through the bushes, she saw her carriage driver sneakily walking with a horse following behind him. The carriage driver took the horse behind a group of trees until the guards passed. 

Lucy stared at him in disbelief and wondered how she was going to get past both him and the guards. Perhaps she wouldn’t have to. What was he doing skulking about in the woods anyways? Perhaps The Mistress had paid him to help Lucy get away. Lucy didn’t want to trust the guy, but what other choice did she have? Sneaking up behind the man, Lucy tried to keep as quiet as possible, but he turned to see her. He put a finger on his lips and gestured for Lucy to come closer. Hesitantly, Lucy stepped forward, and he helped her into the saddle. The driver climbed on behind her and started directing the horse towards the TARDIS. 

As the horse began to run, Lucy could hear panicked yelling, but it was too far away for her to catch the words. The driver took side roads and hidden paths to the TARDIS. The sight of the TARDIS in the distance made Lucy’s heart swell with happiness, and she prepared herself to jump off the horse. After she was safely on the ground, she turned to the man.

“Thank you… sir,” Lucy said with sincere gratitude. “What did she promise you? I’ll make sure that you get it.”

“Don’t worry, my lady. She already paid me for my services,” he replied with a small smile. “Just to let you know… I wouldn’t do this for just anyone. You’re a kind girl. Don’t let anything change that.”

Lucy gave him a small smile before she ran inside the TARDIS to see The Mistress waiting impatiently with her arms crossed.

“Finally! Close the door! We need to leave now.”

Lucy sighed and closed the door as The Mistress started up the engine. With a small laugh The Mistress flew the ship into the air and took off. Lucy looked to the cameras, and she could see horses racing to where the ship had been. Turning away from the camera, she looked up to see The Mistress looking at her with a measuring glance.

“Yes?”

“Just wondering if you wanted to stay there a little longer,” The Mistress said nonchalantly and looked back to the controls.

“Ha ha,” Lucy replied without humor. “No thanks. Time for the spider planet now, right?”

The Mistress smirked and said, “Yup, so no fourth dates with the star-boy prince?”

“No,” Lucy said in a deadpan tone. “I think I’m good on dates for a while. Unless that’s your plan to get whatever we need from the… Pseudici. In which case, it’s your turn to do the ‘seducing.’”

The Mistress laughed before looking as though she was pondering something. She hesitantly asked, “Why is it… that you’re not asking me about what we’re getting? On Earth you wanted to know everything, but suddenly you’re fine with me just saying we need something.”

Lucy sighed and scratched the back of her neck. She explained, “Because… I didn’t really want to know what we were stealing or what its importance is. I didn’t want to hear that it’s super important to the people we’re taking it from, and I figured that the ‘fiber’ is some kind of ultra-resistant webbing for some mechanical piece of the TARDIS.”

The Mistress nodded and replied, “You’re right about both things, but… don’t worry about it much. They can always make more, and it’s not like I took a lot. They’ll be fine.”

“Yeah, okay,” Lucy said uncertainly as The Mistress went back to focusing on flying them to their next destination.


	7. Spider City

Lucy watched as The Mistress piloted the TARDIS closer to the alien planet. As their ship got closer, Lucy noticed shiny tendrils latching onto the meteoroids surrounding the planet. After a few seconds of wonder, she realized what they were: spider webs. The Mistress’ face was tight in concentration as she steadily moved the ship through the holes, careful not to brush the webs. Lucy decided to keep her mouth shut. One wrong move could land them in the middle of a giant web, and Lucy grasped onto a chair with terror.  
With The Mistress’ careful maneuvering the ship had navigated through the slightly shimmering snare, and Lucy let out a small sigh of relief. While Lucy was no arachnophobe, the thought of being caught in a web, powerless as a fly, had made the blood drain from her face. She could feel her body warming up as The Mistress prepared to land the ship. The Mistress gave Lucy a mischievous grin. 

“No faith in me,” she muttered with fake sadness.

“I had plenty of faith,” Lucy replied in an even tone. “In the ship.”

Lucy held back a smile as The Mistress glared at her. The ship made a small noise as though in agreement as they landed. The Mistress turned back to the screen with a huff. The chameleon circuit changed the outside of the ship, and Lucy turned to The Mistress with a curious look. She had no idea how they would walk around this planet and not stand out like a sore thumb. Perhaps The Mistress had some kind of cloaking device that would change their appearance; Lucy watched The Mistress expectantly but tried to abate her excitement. 

The Mistress saw her watching curiously and asked haughtily, “What?”

“What’s the plan? Unless you can secretly turn into a spider, I doubt that we can just walk into their city and walk out.”

“That’s exactly what we’re going to do,” The Mistress said.

Lucy tried to keep her doubt from showing, but The Mistress seemed to pick up on it immediately and sighed.

“My dear Lucy,” The Mistress started dramatically. “These people aren’t nearly as violent as yours. They don’t blow up everything they don’t understand on sight. That’s not very good for business. Also I already have someone waiting to take us to the vendor. It’s okay that we’re easy to spot.”

Lucy settled on an eye roll instead of a scowl. It wasn’t as easy for The Mistress to see, and it made Lucy feel a little better about their current scenario. Sure, they were probably still going to die horribly, but at least Lucy had a little bit of defiance still in her. The Mistress didn’t notice and had started packing a small case.

As they headed for the city, Lucy took a small look back at the TARDIS. The Mistress had disguised as a column alongside an old building. Whispering a goodbye, she turned back around and caught up with The Mistress. The city up ahead was unlike anything Lucy had ever seen. The buildings were almost like mounds and didn’t seem to be made of concrete of metal. It has to be made of webs, Lucy thought to herself as they approached the mounds. A dark figure waited for them up ahead. The Mistress tensed at first, but the figure took off its hood and approached them. The Mistress signaled for Lucy to stay still and walked toward the figure; Lucy grabbed at the knife hidden beneath her cloak. She had gotten pretty good at throwing knives, but even she wasn’t sure if she could hit the creature.

Its face resembled a spider while its body seemed to be humanoid, although due to the cloak Lucy couldn’t be sure. She noticed multiple sleeves up the sides of the cloak. There were eight sleeves. Of course, she thought to herself as she watched The Mistress try to charm the Pseudici creature. The creature eventually relented and turned to lead them into the city. The Mistress waved for Lucy to follow quickly behind them. Lucy jogged to catch up.

The creature led them through the city into what appeared to be back alleys and abandoned streets to a nicer area. A giant building stood before them with tendrils of webs flowed up into the sky. Lucy felt a shiver go up her spine but put on a brave face as they walked into the building. The inside was a library, and despite her fears, Lucy felt a twinge of comfort. The Pseudici left them to bring the vendor. 

Although Lucy was glad that everything seemed to be going smoothly, the giant doors were giving her some anxiety. She would be happy when they could go back to the ship. The Mistress was taking a look around at the walls of books, so Lucy started to do the same. Histories of the Pseudici and other creatures lined the walls to the ceiling. Lucy got caught up reading the titles and lost track of time until she heard the creak of the door. Looking away from the books, her breath got caught in her throat.

A large, red creature stood in the doorway. The top part of the creature was mostly humanoid with a chest and head, but the head had points and extra eyes. The thorax of the creature was a spider’s. Lucy took a step back involuntarily as she grabbed her knife. There was no way she could take on this creature if it attacked, but the feel of the blade’s handle gave her confidence.

“A Racnoss?” The Mistress said acting surprised. “I thought that they were gone.”

The Racnoss gave her a withering look and responded, “You know full well, timelord, or should I call you ‘The Master’?” The Racnoss’ voice feigned politeness but ended with a mocking tone. “I know your kind. After all they did wipe out most of mine.”

The Mistress’ eyes narrowed, but she faked a smile. “Apologies. Were you just planning on getting vengeance or do you have what I need?”

Lucy unsheathed her knife as she looked from The Mistress to the Racnoss. The Mistress had an almost bloodthirsty look on her face, and the Racnoss looked at her with tranquil fury.


	8. D'Artagnan

“Relax, timelord. I have what you need. As you can see by my hands, I am not one of the ‘fighters’ of my people. Just the glorified librarian of my kind now,” the Racnoss replied with sorrow. “We have much to discuss.”

Lucy relaxed and slid her knife back into the sheath. Despite what the Racnoss said, Lucy was sure that could do some damage. Curious, Lucy looked at the Racnoss’ hands, but she didn’t notice anything wrong with them. They looked like humanoid hands. They were red, but Lucy couldn’t see anything notably wrong with them. She caught the Racnoss’ eyes and looked away in embarrassment. The Mistress continued bartering with the Racnoss before the ostensibly reached some kind of deal.

“I would go back with you, but at my age moving through the tunnels is rather… unappealing,” the Racnoss admitted. “My assistant will lead you to the thread room. Your assistant can stay here with me.”

Lucy looked to The Mistress unsure of this new agreement. The Mistress looked angry as the creature that had led them here joined them from the shadows beyond the doorway.

“I am making sure that you don’t kill my assistant and get away with more than you paid for. Nothing will happen to your assistant… or should I say companion? That is what your kind calls them, am I correct?”

The Mistress gave the Racnoss a hard look before she turned to Lucy and said, “I’ll be back as soon as I can. Don’t worry.”

“Easier said than done,” Lucy muttered as The Mistress disappeared beyond the door.

The Racnoss looked at Lucy with interest before a sound made both of them turn to a smaller side door. A black shape retreated back into the darkness. Lucy felt back for her knife and turned to see the Racnoss looking in the creature’s direction with weariness. 

“Do not be afraid, young one. While I cannot say that particular creature is harmless, I can tell you that you are safe from it.”

“What is it? All I saw was a… shadow,” Lucy said uncertainly. Despite it having gone near one of the lamps, it still hadn’t been illuminated. It was as though a shadow itself had moved across the room.

“That may be what it is at the moment. It is a powerful shapeshifter. I haven’t found anything like it in all of my travels,” the Racnoss explained. “A troublemaker but very loyal.”

Lucy walked closer to where it had hidden beyond the door but stopped at the door. She asked, “What is its name?”

“Name?” the Racnoss laughed. “You haven’t even asked mine.”

Lucy felt her face go warm and said, “Apologies, but I assumed that you might not want to give me your name. Particularly if you’re working with The Mistress.”

The Racnoss nodded her head in agreement and said, “No problem, child, as I haven’t even asked for yours. I doubt you could pronounce our names, so you may give us a name of your choosing for now.”

Lucy thought about it for a second and replied, “May I call you Charlotte?”

“And my creature?” the Racnoss asked with a small smile.

“D’Artagnan,” Lucy replied.

The Racnoss tilted her head to the side and said, “I have heard of your Charlotte and her web, but that one… I have not heard.” 

“D’Artagnan… he’s a character from a book ‘The Three Musketeers.’ You said that it is a troublemaker but loyal.”

The shadow came back into the room, and Lucy sat on the floor and allowed it to come close. It morphed into a snake and allowed Lucy to pet it.

“Ah, interesting,” the Racnoss said with a knowing look in her eyes. “Why are you traveling with this timelord? The Master… does not have a good reputation. Particularly with humans. I doubt your family would be happy about your… arrangement.”

Lucy’s face fell, and D’Artagnan looked at her with curiosity. Lucy replied, “My family is gone. The Mistress only works with humans that won’t be missed.”

“Oh, I highly doubt that. The Fantazix have put out a reward on your timelord’s head. You would do well to be careful. Particularly of the young prince.”

Lucy looked up from D’Artagnan and gave Charlotte a measuring look. “So I’m wanted too.”

“Yes and no. They want your ‘Mistress’ dead, but the only mention of you is a reward for your ‘safe return.’ It would seem that your Mistress was not the only thief.”

Lucy felt a lump in her throat as she stared at the Racnoss. That was not good news at all. If Orion thought that she needed to be rescued, he might try to ‘save’ her. The Racnoss clearly noticed her distress and reached up to pull a book off of the shelf. She handed it to Lucy.

“This is a… guide of sorts to their culture. It should help you to anticipate their next move.”

“Thank you… Why help us though?”

“I am helping you, not her. You were dragged into this not knowing the full dangers, and besides… D’Artagnan is a good name.”

Lucy gave the Racnoss a grateful smile before a loud crashing sound startled the both of them. D’Artagnan moved over to the Racnoss as Lucy ran to take a look outside. She prayed silently that The Mistress wasn’t behind it this time as she opened the door. 

The good news was that it wasn’t The Mistress. The bad news… is that it wasn’t The Mistress. Lucy saw a line of spaceships in the distance and closed the doors before turning to the Racnoss. The Mistress and the Racnoss’ assistant had come back through the doors, and The Mistress rushed over to Lucy carrying a bundle in her arms. 

“We have to leave. NOW,” The Mistress said, and Lucy nodded in agreement.

“That may not be possible,” the Racnoss said as she looked through some kind of telescope.

“Why not?!”

“Because the Sontarans just cut off the airspace with a barrier of some kind, and I doubt your ship has enough fuel to evade them and get home.”

The Mistress gave Lucy a worried look, and Lucy leaned back against the doors.


	9. Charlotte's Machine

Charlotte’s assistant ran from room to room quickly grabbing different items before rushing back into the darkness. D’Artagnan hung around Charlotte’s body, and a low hissing noise emanated from it. Charlotte gave D’Artagnan a pat on the head before turning back to Lucy and The Mistress.

“You knew they were coming, didn’t you?” The Mistress asked and narrowed her eyes at Charlotte.

“Yes, we’d had prior warning. They were originally going towards Fantazix, but they changed their course. Perhaps they noticed you.”

“Impossible. The TARDIS wouldn’t show up on their systems. There must be another reason.” 

“Perhaps,” Charlotte agreed as she carefully set up some futuristic kind of gun. “No matter. This will knock them out of the sky at the very least, and once they’re on the ground… the Pseudici will make short work of them.”

“As simple as that?” The Mistress asked and eyed the device suspiciously.

“No… buildings will likely be destroyed, but we can always rebuild. And I will need to get to the top of the tower to get this to work.”

“You’ll have to survive getting to the top of the tower. Those Sontarans will be trying to shoot you down.”

“Yes, but it’s worth it. Besides, my kind have the ability to teleport, but I suspect they’ll try to kill me before I have time to set it up. My assistant will try to give me some cover from the ground.”

“We could give her cover from the ship,” Lucy said, and The Mistress frowned at her. “It’s not like we can get away with them here anyways. We have enough fuel for that, right? And we don’t need to time travel just yet.”

The Mistress had a dark look on her face but gave in with a sigh, “Yes, we do. I took enough of the Fantazix’s elixir to get us home. We can fly around the ships and keep them distracted long enough for you to set up your machine, but once it’s set up, we’ll need to land.”

Charlotte nodded, and The Mistress and Lucy walked to the door. Before Lucy could step out a small coffee table blocked her path. The Mistress turned around to see it and looked at Lucy in confusion.

“Its name is D’Artagnan, and it’s a shape-shifter. Um… D’Artagnan, you need to let me go. I need to get in my ship.”

D’Artagnan didn’t make a sound, but it seemed to radiate disapproval. 

“Take it with you, child. It won’t be of much use to me, and it seems taken with you.”

Lucy nodded and bent down to D’Artagnan. She asked, “Will you come with me?”

D’Artagnan’s shape shifted into a spider’s, and Lucy walked out the door with him on her shoulder. The Mistress and Lucy crept through the streets as Sontaran ships soared overhead demanding a proper duel to the death. They made it to the ship intact, and Lucy set down the book and D’Artagnan onto a table before she helped The Mistress get ready for takeoff. The Mistress calmly grabbed onto the controls and lifted them into the air. Soaring through the air, she quickly guided the ship to where the Sontarans’ flew. 

“Here. Take the controls,” The Mistress told Lucy.

“Uh… what? I’ve never flown it more than a few feet before. Do you really expect me not to get us killed?”

“You’ll be fine. You’ve been watching me fly since we left, and I need to unleash Hell upon these ‘evil-doers.’” 

Lucy quickly took to the controls as The Mistress left and came back with a giant gun.

“Really?!”

“Really,” The Mistress replied with a smirk. “How else are we going to grab their attention?”

Lucy concentrated on flying as The Mistress opened the doors and shot at the Sontarans. Lucy did her best to keep the ship out of the reach of the Sontaran rockets and found that the controls were actually starting to become easier for her to remember. As they soared through the sky being chased by a squadron of ships, Lucy could hear The Mistress’ mad laughter, but she couldn’t focus on that right now. She maneuvered out of their coordinated trap and tried to keep an eye on Charlotte. She was already at the top of the tower, and their distraction was keeping the Sontarans from noticing her. 

Lucy smirked a little as she flew around one of the ships causing it to crash into another one. The Mistress laughed, and Lucy heard her fire again at the ships. The distant sound of the Sontarans challenging them to ‘fight fairly’ and calling them cowards made Lucy laugh as she looked back towards Charlotte. Her assistant was climbing the tower and taking care of the Sontarans on the ground. After she flew around the ships a few more times, she noticed Charlotte pause and look to the sky. 

“Close the doors! We need to land!” Lucy called out, and The Mistress actually listened for once as Lucy initialized the landing gear. Lucy landed the ship closer to where they had previously landed, and they watched as Charlotte’s machine took the Sontarans out of the sky. Crashing into the buildings below, the ships were soon engulfed in the people of Pseudici, and The Mistress flew the ship to the top of Charlotte’s tower.

Lucy got out of the TARDIS and noticed Charlotte fallen to the ground. D’Artagnan soon wrapped itself around Charlotte in sorrow. Lucy ran to her and knelt beside her. Charlotte was still breathing, but her breathing was shallow. 

“What happened?! Did they hit you?!” Lucy asked

“Nothing… child. I am very old, and it seems like this is my time to go,” Charlotte said and gave Lucy a small smile. “Do not be afraid. I am not. I have protected the people… who have protected me. I am happy with that… I just have one request.”

“What?” Lucy asked hesitantly.

“Take D’Artagnan. Keeping it trapped here with me… was my mistake. It will be happier with you,” Charlotte said as her eyes began to lose the light in them. “Please.”  
Lucy looked to The Mistress who gave her a shrug. Lucy replied, “I’ll take it, Charlotte.”

Charlotte gave Lucy a peaceful smile as she faded into oblivion.


	10. Back to Earth

Lucy stared at Charlotte’s lifeless body as though transfixed. She wanted to look away but couldn’t until she felt a hand pull her up from the ground. The Mistress looked confused. Lucy quickly tried to regain her composure and looked at the wreckage around them. The ships had destroyed some of the building, but the webbing had stabilized many of the others. The Pseudici had sprung upon the ships, encasing them in webbing. Shouts and gunfire emanated from the ships. 

Lucy winced before feeling something touching her leg; D’Artagnan leaned against her trembling. Picking him up, Lucy turned to The Mistress to see her watching the chaos below with enjoyment. The look of The Mistress’ face made Lucy hesitate, and it took Lucy a few moments to regroup and regain her courage.

“We should probably leave now,” Lucy said quietly and touched The Mistress’ shoulder. With a sudden jerk of the shoulder, The Mistress’ eyes went wide as she turned to Lucy. She regained her composure and replied, “Yes… That would be wise.”

Lucy looked to Charlotte’s assistant. The assistant’s head was down, and her shoulders slumped in mourning. Quietly closing the door of the TARDIS behind her, Lucy stepped inside. The Mistress was already inputting the coordinates into the TARDIS, and as the TARDIS disappeared from the Pseudici planet, Lucy let out a sigh of relief. She tried to calm D’Artagnan. It was shaking in fear although Lucy had no idea how she could tell. 

As they landed back on Earth in one piece, Lucy noticed that The Mistress also looked relieved as well and looked at her curiously. The Mistress noticed and smoothed down her hair nonchalantly. Flipping a few switches, she changed the outside of the TARDIS to look like a hut.

“No,” Lucy said causing The Mistress to look at her inquiringly. “Make it look like a shed. The hut is obviously out of place. It’s no wonder that Emily found it.”

“Emily?”

“One of the maids. You know. The one you just brainwashed not too long ago. Wait… it’s only been a few days for us. How much time has passed here?”

The Mistress smirked and replied, “A few hours. I was able to get the TARDIS to maneuver through time with the Fantazix elixir and leftover power, but now it really is going to need the webbing for insulation. We most likely burned through what was left. I’ll fix everything tomorrow.” The Mistress yawned and looked at D’Artagnan severely. “That thing needs to stay on the ship though. Can’t have the maids getting a look at it.”

Lucy nodded, and The Mistress left the TARDIS to start the walk back to the manor. Fluffing up the couch and pillows, Lucy laid D’Artagnan on the couch and explained softly, “You have to stay out here until I can find a way to hide you in the manor.”

D’Artagnan whined and changed form into a snake. 

“Still no. Sorry, bud. It won’t take me long. Just a couple of days,” Lucy reassured D’Artagnan and pat its head.

With a sigh, D’Artagnan settled into the couch and seemed to deflate. Lucy shook her head and picked up the book that Charlotte had given her; with a glance back at D’Artagnan and an encouraging smile, she left the Tardis. The sun was rising, and Lucy groaned. The Mistress could get some sleep, but Lucy had a lot of work to do before the maids got up. She tried to remember the itinerary for cleaning for today, but it had been days since she’d even had to think about the cleaning. 

Lucy walked up the steps into the house where The Mistress waited by the door. Curious, Lucy hurried her steps and noticed that Ally had handed The Mistress a note before ducking back into the kitchen. The Mistress noticed Lucy jogging up the stairs and looked at the paper angrily. 

“An associate of one of my other… aliases has called here,” The Mistress whispered to Lucy before checking to make sure the other maids were out of earshot. “No idea how he even got the number… but I’ll take care of it.”

“Do you need any help?” Lucy asked quickly. The TARDIS wasn’t fully repaired yet, so they couldn’t just leave even if they needed to. Someone poking around was likely to cause The 

Mistress to take care of the problem in her own way, which scared Lucy. The Mistress was not known to handle any sort of problem or crisis in a rational way, and Lucy didn’t want them to have to rush the rest of the repairs.

“No, it shouldn’t be too hard to get him to back off. I do have my own charms, darling. Take care of the help while I’m gone. That one… Emma, was it?”

“Emily,” Lucy replied evenly but tiredly.

“Yes. She may be curious as to why she woke up in her bed covered in scratches, so take care of that. And after that… everyone can have the day off.”

Lucy looked at The Mistress skeptically. 

“Oh, Lucy,” The Mistress said sweetly. “You just look so tired. Besides… it may take me a few days, but overall it’s all fine.”

Lucy kept her eyebrow raised but nodded. The Mistress left the manor and got into her car, and Lucy watched her drive away before collecting herself enough to start walking to Emily’s room. Now she had to come up with an explanation without potentially triggering the girl to remember seeing the TARDIS. Lucy wondered if sleep-walking would explain it. But that wouldn’t fit all of the pieces and might make Emily even more suspicious. Emily was already wary of Lucy. Taking a deep breath, Lucy began to walk up the stairs. Somehow Lucy felt as though she’d gotten the worse end of the deal.


	11. New York

Lucy looked up from a shelf to see The Mistress crooning over a new dress. The Mistress flashed Lucy a bright smile, and Lucy gave her one in return. As The Mistress disappeared into the dressing room to try on her new find, Lucy let out a sigh. This was more exhausting than the housework. After The Mistress had gotten back from… wherever, she’d been much more animated than usual, and that was hard to do. She had also kept a close eye on Lucy and brought her wherever she went. 

Lucy sighed and took a seat. What could have happened that would make The Mistress act so strangely? The mall around them was bright and loud, and Lucy found it hard to focus on The Mistress’ mystery. A child crying snapped Lucy back to reality. She looked around to see where it could be coming from and saw a little boy in an orange coat. Tears streamed down his face as he clutched a teddy bear. 

Lucy looked around, but no parents came rushing forward. After a quick look to the dressing room, Lucy got up and walked over to the child. He didn’t seem to notice her in his terror, so Lucy bent down to get more on his level.

“What’s wrong, kiddo?” Lucy asked softly, trying not to startle him. “You lost?”

The child nodded, and Lucy gave him an encouraging smile.

“It’s going to be okay,” Lucy reassured him. “Here. You can get on my shoulders, then maybe you can find them.”

The boy nodded again. He had stopped crying and put on a brave face, so Lucy picked him up and placed him on her shoulders. Lucy would spend a couple minutes looking around before she tried to find security. The parents could still be around here. He was so small; Lucy figured that he couldn’t have wandered far.

“There he is, Mom!” a girl shouted from Lucy’s left.

Lucy turned to see a mother and daughter hand in hand, running towards Lucy and the boy. The boy cried out for his mother. Lucy ducked down, so the mother could grab the boy from her shoulders. Lucy watched as the mother hugged her children tight to her in relief. Feeling awkward, she turned to go. A small tug on her sleeve made her stop, and she looked down to see the little girl clutching her sleeve.

“Thank you, ma’am,” the girl said, and Lucy could tell her mother felt the same way. 

Lucy just smiled as the girl ran back to her mother’s arms. An odd, heavy feeling seemed to be resting inside her as she walked back into the store. Looking around, Lucy wondered if The Mistress was done yet.

“How touching,” The Mistress said irritably. “I didn’t know you could be that sweet.”

Lucy gave The Mistress a tired look before she replied, “So are you ready yet?”

“Yes, but you haven’t even bought one thing,” The Mistress complained. 

“I already have everything I need.”

The Mistress pouted at first but seemed to get an idea. That made Lucy feel on edge. Before Lucy could intervene, The Mistress took off into the crowd, too fast for Lucy to keep up with her. Lucy stopped to catch her breath as she tried to figure out where The Mistress was headed. Seeing as how the TARDIS was fixed, the answer was anywhere. Even just in New York City, Lucy would have a difficult time finding her. She looked around at the buildings and crowds around her. How did anyone find anything here?

Crying caught her attention again, but this time the hairs on her arms stood up. Turning her head, she realized that it was coming from the sewer. A manhole in the alley was uncovered. Lucy turned to look at the other people, but none of them stopped or even seemed to hear it. Realizing that she would probably regret her decision, Lucy walked towards the manhole warily. The sound of crying got louder as she got closer. It definitely sounded like a child. Lucy debated on going to the police for help, but what if the child was stuck or wandered further inside?

“This is… a terrible idea,” Lucy muttered to herself as she climbed down into the sewers. 

The smell alone almost made Lucy go back up, but the crying was much closer now. All she had to do was get the kid and get out. Nothing fancy. She covered her nose as she carefully walked toward the crying, but the crying stopped. A grinding sound caught her attention, and she ran back to the manhole covering. It was now completely covering the opening. 

“Crap!” Lucy whispered, but a sudden sound made her turn around. 

Golden eyes glared at her from the darkness. Lucy took a step back when she nearly fell to the ground. A high pitched ringing echoed in her head, and only sheer force of will kept her from falling. She took a step back from the creature. The ringing faded, but now she could hear it hissing. Its face seemed reptilian but humanoid in shape. Odd ridges went along the creature’s head, and it seemed to be analyzing her as well. Lucy heard something fall in one of the hallways. The creature turned to investigate, so Lucy started to run. 

There was no way that she was going to be able to make it up the ladder and out of the hole before that thing got to her. Her best course of action now was to hide. Hopefully the sound it heard was enough of a distraction for Lucy to find a different way out. Careful to avoid falling, Lucy quickly looped through the sewer. Pausing when she thought she heard something, she listened for the creature. It was human sized, so hopefully it would make noise as it wandered through the sewers. 

After hearing a noise to her left, she bolted to the right and up a corridor. As she thought she lost the creature, she felt her body collide with another’s.


	12. Captain Jack Harkness

A hand covered Lucy’s mouth, and she turned to see a pair of steely blue eyes looking into hers. The man removed his hand and put a finger on his own lips. Lucy nodded. The handsome stranger smiled and motioned for her to follow him. They quickly cut through the tunnels before a loud screech behind them caught their attention. The creature was trying to remove a grate behind them as Lucy’s breath caught in her throat. 

“Run!” the man yelled and grabbed her hand.

With a loud clank the creature had removed the grate and ran towards them. They ran as fast as they could, but Lucy could hear the creature getting closer with each step. Her head started to ache as they bolted through the sewers. The ringing sound was back in her head. Lucy assumed that the creature was the cause, and as it grew closer the ringing became more intense.

“Here!” a woman’s voice shouted from their left, and the man dragged Lucy with him into a blue phone booth.

A TARDIS, Lucy realized upon entering. The woman closed the door behind them, and Lucy could hear the creature bang on the door. The man referred to the woman as “Doctor” and gave her a warm greeting, which soon became a passive-aggressive disagreement. While the man and woman started arguing on what to do next, Lucy took a second to take in the details. The strange machinery was definitely from the same place as The Mistress’. Gallifrey. She turned to the strangers with suspicion. The Mistress was likely a criminal of some kind. Not that she’d told Lucy of any crimes, Lucy just assumed based on her general character. So could these people be after The Mistress? The Fantazix were after The Mistress, so perhaps they hired a Time Lady to find the Time Lady thief.

The woman turned to Lucy and sighed. 

“Well, I wasn’t expecting company. Particularly not you, Jack,” the woman explained, giving Jack a look.

“I go where I’m needed. Wonder where I picked that up,” Jack retorted and gave Lucy a smile. “Really cool, isn’t it?”

“Yeah… and a bit creepy to be honest,” Lucy admitted, and Jack laughed.

The Doctor shrugged and said, “To each their own. Now I would just pop you two back up to the surface, but I don’t know if I could maneuver my way back into the sewers as easily. Feel free to hang about while I try to help that poor woman. But don’t touch anything.”

“Poor woman?” Lucy asked irritably. “Who? The creature that lured me down here with sound of a kid crying only to chase me?”

The Doctor looked at Lucy in confusion before she replied, “That wasn’t her. You probably heard her children, and if I don’t cure her soon, those children may be in danger.”

“What’s wrong with her?” Jack asked. He genuinely sounded concerned for the creature.

“Human disease. Silurians usually aren’t this affected, but she’s been hiding down here while trying to rebuild her ship. I found it a couple miles away and fixed it. Now all I need to do is tranquilize her and trap her children, which are going to be hard to find. I doubt that they’ll trust me much.”

“No, but I know someone who they might trust,” Jack said and pointed to Lucy.

“Uh, what,” Lucy responded with a glare. She didn’t appreciate being put into the spotlight.

“I think that they were trying to lure you down here to help their mother. I saw when you went down into the sewers. They specifically called out to you. No one else.”

Lucy wanted to argue, but she remembered that no one else had seemed to hear the crying. Had it been in her head? The Doctor stared at Lucy in contemplation. Not liking the sudden attention, Lucy glared back.

“You look familiar. Have we met before?” The Doctor asked.

“Pretty sure I’d remember this,” Lucy replied quickly. She wondered if she had been too laidback about the TARDIS.

“Most likely,” the woman agreed although not satisfied with Lucy’s answer. 

“So I assume, we should factor that into the plan,” Jack said and purposefully interrupted their staring contest. “Oh, by the way, Captain Jack Harkness. Nice to meet you.”

The Doctor sighed as Jack gave Lucy a wink. Even Lucy had to admit that the man was cute, but she kept a neutral face. 

“Lucy. So what is the plan exactly?” 

“I have a tranquilizer gun,” The Doctor replied with distaste. “I hate to use it but… at this point I don’t see a choice.”

“I’d make a good distraction,” Jack offered.

“That could work,” The Doctor admitted. “And… Lucy can try to get the children afterwards. It’s our best hope.” 

Lucy silently watched as they coordinated their plans. The Doctor had caught onto the fact that Lucy was suspicious, but Lucy knew that The Doctor had no idea where The Mistress was. Not even Lucy knew that. She began to make a plan of her own, but really all she could come up with was bring the children to The Doctor and run like hell. She didn’t even know whether the kids would really trust her.

The Mistress would be hard to find, and Lucy tried to think of where she would even be. Worst case scenario, she could try to find a payphone to call the TARDIS. The Mistress had taught her how to do so, but Lucy didn’t even think payphones were a thing anymore.

The Doctor left the room to retrieve the gun, and Jack walked over to Lucy. 

“Nervous?” 

“A little, but I’m not the one who volunteered as a distraction.”

“Worried about me?” Jack asked with a cheeky smile.

“Nope. I just don’t want to be offered up as distraction number two should you die.”

“How cold,” Jack replied jokingly.

The Doctor came back into the room, irritably holding the tranquilizer gun. Jack gave Lucy an encouraging smile as he followed The Doctor out of the TARDIS and into the darkness.


	13. Silurians in the Sewer

Loud yells and hissing could be heard from outside the TARDIS as Lucy quickly explored the inside. The Mistress would be angry if Lucy didn’t at least snoop a little into The Doctor’s business; after all she could be here to hurt The Mistress. Lucy opened a door to see a room full of costumes of different eras. Nope, not really useful. The rest of the TARDIS was just as useless, but at least there wasn’t a wanted poster for The Mistress.

Something she noticed about the TARDIS was the same as The Mistress’ TARDIS: the lack of personal items. In human homes, there were pictures or knickknacks brighten up the room, but there was nothing here. Charlotte had implied that it wasn’t unusual for Time Lords to take a ‘companion,’ but there wasn’t even a trace. Jack was likely a former companion of The Doctor, and Lucy wondered if The Doctor just hadn’t though it necessary to keep pictures. The people from Gallifrey seemed to have incredible memories. Maybe she just didn’t need a picture, or maybe she kept things in a secret room that Lucy hadn’t found.

The door to the TARDIS opened, and Lucy quickly took a seat where she had been when they left. Jack carried in the lizard woman while The Doctor ran ahead of him to set up a work station of sorts. Despite herself, Lucy was curious. She walked over to the woman on the couch and looked up to Jack.

“So… I guess it’s my turn now?”

Jack gave her an encouraging smile in reply, and Lucy sighed. Taking one last look at the woman, Lucy walked out into the sewer. The smell hit her harder than before. Clearly the fear of death was a powerful motivator as she hadn’t even noticed the smell while running. Walking through the tunnel, she had to watch her step as rats darted out from corners. The sound of small footsteps came from her right. Lucy stopped.

“Hello?” Lucy said kindly into the darkness, hoping that it was only hiding the children. “It’s okay. Your mother is going to be okay. I can take you to her.”

There was no reply, not even a sound. Lucy sighed. If they had trusted her before, they probably wouldn’t now. Jack and The Doctor had made a lot of noise in trying to capture the mother, and they were probably terrified. 

“I know you’re scared. I’d be scared too, but I won’t hurt you. All I want is to take you to your mother. Please,” Lucy pleaded and felt something catch in her throat.

Out of the darkness a small childlike figure walked out. Scales covered its body, and its eyes watched her curiously. Lucy carefully lowered herself to his level.

“Come on, kiddo,” Lucy said in a gentle voice, and the child ran at her and threw itself onto her in a hug. Soon the pitter-patter of feet came from all around her. Four other children stepped out of the darkness and followed her back into the TARDIS.

The Doctor was working on the mother as Lucy walked inside, and the children ran to her. Lucy watched as The Doctor began telling them what she was doing and reassuring them. The children watched The Doctor with wide eyes. Jack gave Lucy a pat on the shoulder.

“Knew you could do it.”

“No, you didn’t,” Lucy fired back, causing Jack to laugh.

“You leaving?” 

“Yeah. The Doctor’s busy, and my… friend is probably worried about where I am.”

Jack nodded and gave Lucy a quick peck on the cheek. Lucy’s face went red as she took a step back, but Jack just gave her a cheeky smile.

“Hope to see you soon, little Lucy.”

Blushing Lucy quickly left the TARDIS. She held her breath as she walked back through the sewers and pushed the manhole covering off of the entrance. Breathing fresh air, Lucy took a few minutes to compose herself before she started to look for The Mistress. Eventually she decided to just wait at the TARDIS and walked back to where they had left it. Luckily The Mistress hadn’t left. As Lucy got inside, she felt herself wrapped up in a hug. The Mistress held onto her before quickly letting.

“You smell. What happened?!”

“Sewers. Silurian. Weird guy named Jack. It’s a long story, but I really need out of these clothes,” Lucy said, and The Mistress nodded in agreement.

“Well, luckily for you. TAH-DAH!” The Mistress said a smile and pulled out a three piece suit. “I got you a better suit, so you can just burn this one. And another present I had custom made.” The Mistress pulled out a pair of black gloves. “These are made from the same webbing I used in the TARDIS. They’re pretty much indestructible. Even time doesn’t affect the Pseudici Queen’s web.” 

The Mistress beamed at Lucy, and Lucy smiled back before realizing that there was a reason they needed to leave.

“There is a Time Lady here! I saw her TARDIS. She was there to help the lizard woman,” Lucy said, and The Mistress started keying in the coordinates of their manor.

“That should have been the first thing you told me. Wait… did you get her name?”

“The Doctor. And why? I thought there are a lot of Time Lords and Ladies. You never told me to be wary of any of them.”

The Mistress’ eyes went wide, and she pulled the lever for takeoff. Lucy took to the controls as The Mistress began to pace around the TARDIS.

“Did you say anything about me?”

“Of course not. I was kind of focused on not being attacked by the lizard woman.”

“So he was occupied. Good… And this ‘Jack.’ What did you think of him?” The Mistress asked nonchalantly, but Lucy could sense a storm brewing.

“Well, he saved me from the lizard lady, so… I’m going to go with him being okay.”

“Just okay?”

“He was a cheeky bastard. That gets points deducted,” Lucy said as she landed them safely at the manor. Turning to The Mistress, she saw that The Mistress looked terrified. “What’s wrong? They won’t find us here. Even if they do, a blue phone box is relatively easy to spot.”

“I… I need time to think,” The Mistress said as she walked out towards the manor. Even D’Artagnan seemed curious as Lucy watched The Mistress go up the hill.


	14. To the Moon

The Mistress had been acting cold toward Lucy for a few days now, ever since the trip to New York. Lucy fidgeted with the laundry machine before finally turning the knob; she wondered if she had done anything to cause The Mistress to get angry. Besides waiting a few moments to tell The Mistress about The Doctor, Lucy didn’t feel like she had. While Lucy had done that on purpose, The Mistress rarely told Lucy anything about herself, so Lucy had played dumb about not knowing that The Doctor could be a threat to them. Even so she didn’t think that was too far over the line. 

Anger boiled up inside Lucy as she threw sheets into the dryer. She sighed and took a seat. It wasn’t fair for The Mistress to give little to no information and expect Lucy to immediately understand what was going on. Besides, Lucy and The Mistress had a deal. Lucy dusted off her pants and walked to The Mistress’ study. Swiftly opening the door, she startled The Mistress who was reading the book on Fantazix that Charlotte had given Lucy. 

“You can give me the cold shoulder all you like, Mistress, but we did have a deal. Three places of my choosing. And I’d like to use one of them now,” Lucy said firmly and watched The Mistress’ eyes narrow in response. 

“Oh. And just where do you plan on going?” The Mistress replied cheerfully, but Lucy could see the anger behind the mask. Despite this, Lucy was determined to carry on.

“To the moon.” 

The Mistress looked at her strangely before answering, “That’s… not particularly far. A free pass to anywhere in time and space, and you choose something right in your planet’s backyard. Oh! Did you want to go back in time for your country’s moon landing?”

“No. Today,” Lucy replied firmly, earning another look of confusion from The Mistress. 

“Okay then. It’s your choice. Feel free to waste it, I suppose.”

Lucy nodded and started walking out to the TARDIS. D’Artagnan greeted her at the door, and she smiled at him fondly. He had really grown on her. Charlotte had left a detailed list of how to take care of him in the book; obviously she had been planning on giving her D’Artagnan the second that she had given the book to Lucy. One thing that confused Lucy was how prepared Charlotte had seemed for everything. Had she somehow been able to see the future?

The door of the TARDIS closing startled Lucy out of her thoughts, and she looked to see The Mistress sitting in a chair. Lucy silently watched her for a few seconds. Perhaps The Mistress was waiting for something. Finally The Mistress looked up from her book and met Lucy’s eyes. 

“You’ll be piloting today. It’s not that long of a trip, and I’m tired.”

Lucy rolled her eyes but got to work. After putting the time and place into the TARDIS, Lucy prepared for takeoff. Within a few moments, the ship landed, and Lucy opened the door and looked outside. The surface wasn’t particularly fascinating, but the view was astounding. Looking down at the Earth in the distance, Lucy suddenly couldn’t help but feel very small. She stood in the doorway for a few moments, silently taking it in. 

“It’s beautiful,” Lucy said to no one in particular as she watched the mostly blue orb in the distance.

“I’ve seen more beautiful places,” The Mistress said, not moving from the chair.

“Where?”

“Gallifrey.”

“Take me there then.”

“You want to use two of your picks in one day, darling? Take it easy. Besides… it can’t be reached.”

Lucy looked to The Mistress to see her face contort for a moment in grief before she put on a disinterested mask.

“So The Doctor’s from there too?”

The Mistress twitched before she answered, “Yes. We grew up there together.”

Lucy’s eyes widened with this revelation. No wonder The Mistress had been so distressed to hear about The Doctor.

“Why are you angry at me? Because I didn’t tell you that The Doctor was there sooner. Your behavior seems a bit disproportionate. At least to me.”

The Mistress looked away and said nothing for a few minutes. As Lucy went back to staring at the Earth, The Mistress spoke, “The Doctor… is much better with companions than I am… although that’s not really saying much. And that Jack fellow is pretty… charming. For some people at least.”

“So you were worried that I would choose them over you, despite the fact that I left them as quickly as possible?”

“Not now but eventually. Someday… you may decide that he’s… she’s a better fit. A kinder person and then what would I do then?”

The Mistress genuinely looked hurt and afraid. Lucy walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

“I made a promise with you, not him. I worked for years obtaining parts, fixing parts, and creating parts to this wonderful machine… with you. I’m not that fickle, Mistress.”

The Mistress looked away for a few moments before she pulled a pocket watch with Gallifreyan writing on it. She held it out to Lucy and said, “This is a very important relic to me… which I am giving to you. It will help me to know where you are and if you are in trouble.”

Lucy gingerly took the watch and smiled at The Mistress warmly.

“It’s an honor, Mistress.”

The Mistress walked with Lucy to the edge of the TARDIS where they stood and watched the Earth without a word.


	15. Starry-Eyed Prince

After the trip to the moon, The Mistress’ demeanor had done a complete one-eighty. She had gone from barely reacting to Lucy’s presence to following her from room to room. Quite frankly, Lucy was having a hard time figuring out which was worse. At least one of the maids seemed to think that Lucy and The Mistress had a ‘lover’s quarrel,’ and even Emily watched them with interest.

Thankfully, The Mistress had gotten another call from her ‘associate’ and had left to sort things out, which meant that the maids and Lucy had the next day off. Ally and Mary were ecstatic, and even Emily seemed to have a pep in her step. After watering the flowers in the garden, Lucy returned inside to finish checking the maids’ work. As she checked everything off of the list, a loud knock on the front door caught Lucy’s attention.

“I’ll get it!” Ally volunteered, clearly wanting Lucy to finish, so that she could make the most of The Mistress’ departure. Within a few moments, Lucy had the rest of the list finished and turned to see Mary running toward her.

“The door… it’s for you,” Mary said in between breaths. “He says his name is Orion.”

Lucy did her best to keep a straight face and walked to the entrance hall. Sure enough, Orion stood there, but his clothes seemed far more modern than what Lucy had seen before.

“Lucy,” Orion said with a smile, and Ally nearly melted into the floor.

“Ally, Mary, Emily, you’re free to go. Everything is complete. Sir, would you please follow me?” Lucy said and gestured for Orion to follow her to The Mistress’ study. 

Surprisingly he followed behind her without a word, and Lucy closed the door behind him. Orion looked uncomfortable with that. Lucy gave him a curious look.

“Isn’t it… inappropriate for just the two of us to be in here unattended?”

“No, not in this time and place. Besides, I assume you want either some kind of payment for what we stole. If you were interested in justice, you would have simply arrested me instead of following me in here.”

Lucy’s heart secretly pounded in her chest, but she kept her cool. This… air-headed prince could ruin everything. At least with the TARDIS fixed, they could leave if they needed to, but The Mistress wasn’t even here.

“Correct,” Orion admitted hesitantly. “I am here to rescue you from her clutches.”

“Uh, no thanks. I’m quite good where I am.”

“In the palm of a thief?”

“I apologize for taking something sacred from your people, and we are more than willing to try and make it up to you. But we also saved a planet. Just so you know.”

“I do. The Pseudici people rallied in your favor. We have called off the hunt for your Mistress’ head.”

“Is that all?” Lucy asked, eyeing him warily.

“We are willing to forgive her should she allow me to observe her for some time… or if you return with me,” Orion said nervously. “You were the one I chose as my bride after all.”

Lucy sighed and brushed the hair out of her face, trying to choose her words carefully.

“That person you danced with doesn’t exist. I’m just as guilty as my Mistress.”

“I know.”

“Then why? Why do you still care? Wouldn’t it be better for you to stay away from me?”

“No… Yes. I… don’t know, but I want to see the real you. I chose you from the moment I saw you.”

Lucy disguised a laugh as a cough and answered, “I’ll have to speak with The Mistress before I can give you any kind of agreement.”

“Where is she?”

“Out. I have a number that I can reach her from. Wait here.”

Lucy walked out of the room and found the phone. Luckily this time The Mistress had a cell phone, so Lucy called the number nervously.

“Is something wrong?” The Mistress answered with an odd tone to her voice. 

“Orion is here. He’s willing to make a deal: his family will forgive us if we allow him to ‘observe’ us.”

“Hmm, well, set up a room for him. For now I don’t see why he can’t stay for a while. I’m in the middle of something right now. I’ll call you later, sweetie,” The Mistress said and ended the call with a kiss.

Lucy stared at the phone in confusion for a few moments before hanging up and walking back to the study. The Mistress must be talking with her ‘associate.’ Orion was looking at a book with a smile on his face; it was the book on Fantazix. Lucy mentally groaned before she entered the room.

“The Mistress says that you can stay for now. I believe that she’ll want to talk to you when she gets home. Follow me. I’ll set up a room for you.”

Lucy started walking down the hallway and could hear Orion’s footsteps as he followed. The room across the hall from Lucy’s was the best bet as it was the furthest open room from the maids. It would also allow The Mistress to keep an eye on their guest. Lucy grabbed some clean sheets from the closet before they entered the room. Orion made a move to help her, but Lucy stopped him with a look. 

“So where is your mistress?” Orion asked as Lucy finished making the bed.

“Out. Meeting with an associate. She should be home by tomorrow night.”

“But you don’t know where exactly,” Orion said, and Lucy glared at him.

“I need to get you a blanket. I’ll be back.”

“So she doesn’t even tell you where she’s going? Why would you follow someone like that?”

“Do you tell your servants where you’re going?” Lucy snapped back.

“You’d be more than a servant to me, and you should be more to her.”

Lucy said nothing and walked out of the room. She found a clean set of covers and returned to place them into Orion’s arms. Flashing a fake smile, she stormed off to find where the other maids were hiding.


	16. Orion's Choice

Books were piled high on the table where Orion had fallen asleep. Lucy sighed and walked into the study. The Mistress had allowed him to use her study for research, but Lucy wished that she would at least tell him to clean up after himself. She put the books back onto the shelves quietly and debated whether she should wake him up. She had woken him before, but now she thought that it might be best to just leave him. A giggle outside the door caught her attention. 

Lucy caught a look at the maids’ faces before they covered their mouths in surprise and quickly walked away. It wasn’t like Lucy didn’t understand the girls’ reaction. Orion was pleasant to look at, and he acted exactly like a prince or knight in a fairy tale. Emily seemed to treat him with a mixture of indifference and pity. 

The cover story that Lucy and The Mistress had come up with for him was that he was a relative of The Mistress who would be staying with them for a while. Ally and Mary didn’t really seem to care much, but Emily had noticed that The Mistress often treated Orion with thinly-veiled disdain. Lucy wished that The Mistress would hide it better. Emily was the only one who had been suspicious of them from the beginning. She may even side with Orion out of spite.

Lucy stopped cleaning as an idea popped into her head. Perhaps they were going about this the wrong way; Emily fit the image of a fairy tale heroine more than Lucy did. If anything, Lucy was far more of an anti-hero. What if Lucy could set up Orion and Emily? Then she could get rid of two potential dangers at the same time. Orion could go home to his planet, and Emily could go with him. Even if they stayed on Earth, they wouldn’t be a threat to Lucy’s plans.

Lucy smiled to herself and finished putting the books on the shelves. She’d have to see what The Mistress thought of it first, but this could be promising. As she turned to leave, she noticed that Orion’s eyes had opened. 

She put on a fake smile and said, “Good morning, sir. There is breakfast in the dining room waiting for you.”

“Do you hate me?”

Orion’s question threw her, and she dropped her smile. He just silently watched her as he waited for an answer. She quickly gathered herself.

“No, sir,” Lucy replied quickly and smiled again. 

“Don’t do that. You pretend like everything is okay when it’s not. I may not be from your world, but that does not make me stupid.”

“What do you mean by that?”

“Your smile is even more false than the one you wore for the ball,” Orion explained and stood up. “I’m not asking for much. Just… give me a chance to let me get to know the real you.”

Lucy dropped her smile and thought about what he said. If Lucy did show him the real her, it would probably scare him right back to his planet. Lucy smirked and turned back to Orion.

“As you wish,” Lucy said, expecting him to back off, but instead he beamed at her with a radiant smile.

Lucy scowled back at him and left the study. Hopefully, Orion would just turn out to be a minor annoyance, but Lucy didn’t like his attitude.

The Mistress was out by the garden, enjoying the morning sunrise. As she saw Lucy’s look of annoyance, she let out a small bark of laughter. Lucy checked to make sure the other maids were out of sight before she pulled up a chair. 

“Enjoying the company of our prince?” The Mistress asked quietly and took a sip of her tea.

Lucy answered with a glare and said, “I think we need to scare him off or set him up with someone.”

The Mistress almost choked on her tea and asked, “Do you have someone in mind?”

“Emily. She’s already suspicious of us, so I think it’d be a two birds/ one stone thing.”

The Mistress looked thoughtful and said, “That could work. Perhaps we can arrange for them to have some quality time together.”

Lucy nodded and stood up as she heard the door open and close. Orion stepped out and walked toward them. 

“Do you have any plans for today?”

“Well, where do you want to go?” The Mistress asked and put her cup down. “Past? Future? Perhaps somewhere your kind’s ships have never been?”

“I want to learn more about this planet. I would like to meet your world’s most romantic poet.”

“Why are you both looking at me? Stop that!” Lucy ordered uncomfortably.

The Mistress smiled and replied, “You’re the one from this world. You should know the answer to that one.”

“I majored in science as you well know. I wasn’t really one for poetry.”

“Surely you must at least know of one poet,” Orion said, and Lucy glared at him.

Lucy thought for a second, and a name sprang into her mind. “Lord Byron. But you knew that already.” Lucy turned to see The Mistress sporting a Cheshire grin.

“I was curious to see what your answer would be,” The Mistress replied nonchalantly and got out of her chair. She started walking out to the woods, and Lucy jogged to catch up to her.

“Are you sure about this?” she whispered to The Mistress. 

“Yes, what’s the harm in letting the boy have some fun?” 

Lucy watched The Mistress as she opened the doors of the TARDIS. Clearly she had some sort of plan, and Lucy would just have to wait and see it play out. D’Artagnan greeted Lucy as she walked inside and took a seat. Orion looked around the TARDIS with interest as he entered. The doors shut behind him, and they were ready for their next adventure.


	17. Lord Byron

An alarm went off as the TARDIS landed, and Lucy turned to The Mistress with trepidation. After Lucy had run into The Doctor, they had decided to create an alarm that would go off if another TARDIS was in close proximity. Neither had expected it to be useful this soon. 

Orion looked at them in confusion and asked, “Are we in the wrong place?”

“No, but someone else is here,” The Mistress said and ran into a room. She came out with an odd looking bracelet and put it on Lucy’s arm. “This will disguise you as someone else.”

After locking it into place on Lucy’s arm, Lucy heard Orion gasp and quickly looked into the mirror, but she didn’t even see herself in it. Confused, she looked at The Mistress.

“Sorry, love. This technology is a bit… dated. You won’t show up in reflections, so be careful.”

“What do I look like then?”

“An approximate male version of you,” The Mistress answered, clearly amused.

“And I don’t even get to see it. Bogus,” Lucy muttered. “I assume this is so The Doctor won’t recognize me.”

“Yup. And for my own curiosity,” The Mistress admitted with a smile.

Lucy looked over to Orion who was looking towards them with a mixture of worry and confusion. Clearly he hadn’t expected Lucy to look like a man. That made Lucy feel a little better. She was now pretty certain that he would keep his distance while she was disguised; that would actually make things easier to deal with. 

“Is… this doctor person dangerous?”

“Yes and no. To you probably not, but he is to me,” The Mistress answered. “Although… he might not recognize me in this form. At least not at first. I don’t want to risk it though. I have more that I need to do before we are reunited. Stay safe, and have fun.”

The Mistress ushered Lucy and Orion out the door and closed it behind them. Lucy stared at the closed door for a few moments before taking a deep breath. This was The Mistress’ idea, so how come Lucy was now stuck being a babysitter for the alien prince?

“Okay then. Let’s go,” Lucy said and gestured for Orion to follow her. 

At least Orion was giving her a lot of space; he seemed a little mystified by her sudden change. Today Lord Byron would be giving a speech on the Frame Breaking Act, which meant that Orion and Lucy had about twenty minutes to get to the House of Lords. Somehow Lucy would try to get him to at least speak to Orion. Not because she cared about whether he got his wish; mostly so that he would shut up.

As they arrived near the entrance, groups of men started pouring out the sides. Lucy tried to get a good look, but there were too many of them to peer through. Lucy turned to Orion to see him talking to a stranger. 

“Really?” Lucy whispered as she jogged over to Orion. “Excuse us, sir. We’re not from around here.”

The stranger turned around, and Lucy took a quick intake of breath. She recognized him from a book her brother had given her: Lord Byron. He tilted his head and smiled at her confusion.

“I see. Your friend here was telling me that you are here to meet the ‘poet of the age,’” Lord Byron said with a twinkle in his eye. 

“And I see that you quite like flattery,” Lucy replied evenly. 

Lord Byron laughed and replied with a wave, “Come. I have a carriage awaiting me. We will have more privacy inside.”

Orion seemed mystified as he followed Lord Byron to the carriage unquestioningly with Lucy reluctantly following behind. Lucy truly began to regret her decision to follow along after Orion started asking the poet questions. She stared at the scenery and hoped it would end soon. Lord Byron seemed to catch onto her distaste. 

“So I gather… you are not a lover of poetry,” Lord Byron asked, and Lucy reluctantly returned his attention with a plastered on smile.

“No. That I am not.”

“You must have some passion? Theatre? Music?”

“None of those,” Lucy replied curtly; the fake smile having disappeared from her face.

“So music then?” Lord Byron asked with a curious tilt of the head. He was sharper than Lucy had thought he’d be.

Lucy said nothing and continued to look out the window. After all, she was sure if she actually looked at the man she wouldn’t be able to hold back a glare. They had gotten to a less crowded streets as Orion and Lord Byron had talked. By now the street was starting to look like a ghost town. 

“Singing? Violin? Piano?” he continued, and Lucy mentally groaned. 

“Piano. My brother sang,” Lucy responded. Perhaps if she just gave him the answers, he would go back to sharing his ‘wisdom’ with Orion.

“Sang?”

“He’s… gone,” Lucy said and glared at Lord Byron. Her desire to be respectful was eclipsed by her need to shut him up. This was not a topic she was going to discuss with an annoying poet and an alien prince.

Lord Byron seemed to take notice of the pain in her eyes and stopped his questioning. After a few moments of silent contemplation, he replied, “I am sorry to hear of that… I lost my mother not too long ago.”

Lucy’s glare softened. He looked as heartbroken as she felt. She looked at Orion to see pity in his eyes and looked away.

“But you still have your mother and father?”

“No.” 

Lord Byron stopped with his questions and seemed to be struggling with finding something to say when the carriage abruptly stopped. Screaming could be heard from outside followed by an eerie silence. Lucy looked outside to see a massive snake-like creature wrapping itself around the carriage.


	18. Basilisk

The snake like creature constricted itself around the carriage as Lucy pulled Lord Byron and Orion to the floor. The top popped off with a sickening crack. Lucy looked around the carriage for something to use when a blue light hit the snake causing it to release the carriage and dart into the shadows. A man appeared out of an alley wearing 3D glasses, a trench coat, and sneakers. Lucy knew without a doubt that this had to be The Doctor.

The Doctor ran over and helped Orion and Lord Byron out of the shattered remains of the carriage. Lucy pulled herself out of the carriage, refusing The Doctor’s help. She remembered how The Mistress had acted the last time she’d helped The Doctor, and The Mistress could possibly be watching.

“Come along. It’s not safe here,” The Doctor said and led them to his TARDIS. 

Lord Byron reacted predictably as someone who grew up in the 18th century and stared open-mouthed at the inside. He shouted, “It is far more magnanimous on the inside.”

“Haven’t heard that one before,” The Doctor noted with a grin, which disappeared when he saw Lucy’s nonchalance at the ship. Even Orion was looking around the ship in fascination. “And that reaction is rare as well.”

Lucy met The Doctor’s gaze with irritation and replied, “We have bigger things to worry about. The giant anaconda for one?”

“Ah, that wasn’t an Earth creature. It has been on Earth before… it’s the thing you lot call a ‘basilisk.’”

“Oh, great,” Lucy said with a sigh and looked back to Orion and Lord Byron. Orion had calmed down and was looking to The Doctor for direction on what to do next, but Byron was still checking out the TARDIS with glee. “How do we get rid of it?”

“Ah, well,” The Doctor began and rubbed the back of his neck in embarrassment. “I had a plan. It was a pretty good plan, but it didn’t work out so well.” He pointed to a weird box and continued, “I was planning on stunning the creature and using that box to store it, but…”

“But?”

He brandished the thing that he had used to save them and said, “My sonic screwdriver isn’t… sonic-y enough.”

“So you mean that you need something with more power or a way to amplify the screwdriver’s stun feature.”

“Precisely,” The Doctor said animatedly. His suspicion of Lucy seemed to fade as he got excited to be talking with someone who could understand him. “The basilisk was chasing me at first, but then it suddenly took off. You didn’t happen to have a chicken with you, do you?” 

“No, I can say without a doubt that we didn’t. Why?”

“Well, the basilisk’s favorite meal seems to be chicken from the bloody trails it leaves. I’ve also heard that it can be attracted to strong emotions… What exactly were you doing in the carriage?” The Doctor asked and raised his brow suggestively.

“Talking about our dead family members,” Lucy replied coldly and watched The Doctor’s expression turn into regret.

“I’m sorry.”

“Yeah,” Lucy replied, brushing it off. “We need to do something about the basilisk. Is that why you’re wearing those glasses?”

“Oh, these. Nah. They’re just cool. But yeah… I’d avoid looking it in the eyes were I you. It mostly just stuns my kind.”

“Great,” Lucy said again.

“Why not just kill the beast?” Orion asked, and The Doctor turned to glare at him. “It’s clearly dangerous to… people. Why not just ensure everyone’s safety? How did it even get here?”

“It’s been here… for centuries. In a dormant state. And we don’t just kill things because they’re dangerous. Humans are dangerous as well. Should you kill them to save the planet?” The Doctor said with a barely contained anger.

“Touché,” Lucy remarked, and The Doctor seemed to calm down a little. “Take it easy, Doctor. We’re all on the same side: team get-the-snake-off-this-planet.”

The Doctor went still for a second and then asked, “How did you know my name? I never told you.”

Lucy winced and said, “We’ve met before but not necessarily in that order. My first time meeting you isn’t the same as your first time meeting me.”

The Doctor’s expression turned from suspicion into joy as he gave her an impromptu hug. Orion took a step forward before Lucy gave him a look. Even Byron looked over to them with an eyebrow raised.

“So did we save the day?” The Doctor asked and let Lucy go.

“Obviously. I was there after all. Now we need to focus. Do you have anything on the ship that we could use to make a stunner capable of bringing down the basilisk?”

“I think so. But we’ll have to find a way to lure it to us. You just like saying basilisk, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” Lucy admitted with a small grin, and The Doctor ran into one of the rooms.

“Why did he do that?” Orion asked and put a hand on Lucy’s shoulder. 

Lucy brushed off his hand and replied, “Don’t know, but if he actually manages to catch the basilisk, I won’t complain.”

“How are you so accustomed to this strangeness? Because you have met him before?” Lord Byron asked.

“Yeah, but also because my employer is even stranger,” Lucy replied as The Doctor came out of the room holding a weird wand-like device. “Oh, you have got to be kidding me.” Lucy tried to say that with irritation, but even she couldn’t help but grin.

“You should know the magic word,” The Doctor said knowingly with a grin. Clearly he was a fan of Harry Potter as well.

“Stupefy?”

“Exactly. Don’t say that while holding it… unless you mean it.”

Lucy laughed, and The Doctor winked. 

“Now all we need is bait, and, no, we’re not using you.”

“It likes chickens, correct?” Lord Byron asked with a smirk. “I can get one, but you owe me one.”


	19. Stupefy

The Doctor landed his TARDIS safely away from the city and started to set up the trap. The ominous looking box sat next to the chicken, and Lucy couldn’t keep her eyes away from the sight. If the situation weren’t so dire, she’d probably find it funny. 

“All ready. Okay, so as for luring it to us… Weeell,” The Doctor said and put on a pair of normal glasses. “I’m going to need for you to use your emotions.”

“Were you hoping that the glasses would make you sound more clever or less stupid?” Lucy snapped at him irritably.

“Both,” The Doctor admitted. “But I don’t see how else we’re going to lure it here. It made a beeline for you after chasing me, and I was feeling a very strong emotion: pure terror.”

“Okay then. How about you first, Doctor?” Lucy said with fake politeness. “What are your strong emotions?”

The Doctor looked at her with hesitation before he said, “Fear, I suppose. Fear of losing someone else. Fear of becoming someone worse and even fear of becoming someone else. What about your friend there?”

Orion looked at them confused and replied, “I am in love with someone who doesn’t feel the same as me. I was hoping that by learning from Lord Byron that I could attain her love, but I don’t feel as though that’s the answer.”

“Rude,” Lord Byron replied. “I guess… my feelings toward my mother are… complicated. She spent so much time trying to fix me, but she was my friend in the end. Perhaps the only true friend that I had.”

The Doctor, Orion, and Byron turned to Lucy expectantly, and she took a deep breath.

“My mother, father, and brother are dead… and they deserved to live,” Lucy said matter-of-factly as she closed her eyes. “My brother… my younger brother… despite him being the singer and I the pianist, he was the music to my lyrics. I thought, and he felt. This… this is stupid. It’s not even here.”

Lucy got up and started walking toward The Doctor’s TARDIS when an odd feeling came over her. She turned to see a large snake rising from the hill nearby and shouted out to The Doctor. The basilisk tried to wrap around The Doctor, but he leaped out of the way. Orion was blindly brandishing a branch to keep it away from him and Byron. The Doctor’s glasses had fallen into the grass, and as he tried to avoid the snake’s clutches, the wand dropped from his hand. 

Lucy ran back toward the wand as The Doctor tried to keep the basilisk from attacking. With the wand in her hand, she turned to see The Doctor lying still on the grass. His eyes were open. Lucy felt his pulse; he was just stunned. Feeling perturbed by his stare, Lucy closed his eyes. Lucy quickly looked over to the snake. It was trying to attack Byron now, and it eyed Orion warily.

“Hey! You big ugly monster. Over here!”  
The snake turned and slithered toward Lucy. She bolted to the box. The chicken screamed as Lucy climbed the hill. Turning she saw the creature raising its head toward her with blood dripping from its monstrous mouth.

“Stupefy!” Lucy shouted, and a beam of light exploded from the wand. The basilisk crashed onto the box with a loud bang. Lucy watched with fascination as the box glowed, and the creature disappeared. Orion had opened his eyes, and Byron was looking at her as though she’d grown an extra head.

“You’re a woman?” Byron asked, and Lucy looked at her hand to see the bracelet missing.

“Is that really the strangest thing you’ve seen today?” Lucy snapped back.

Byron laughed and responded, “Truth is often stranger than fiction, indeed.”

The Doctor was still collapsed on the grass, and Lucy grabbed him to pull him into his TARDIS. Dropping him unceremoniously on the couch as Orion hauled in the box, Lucy debated stealing the wand. Orion gave her The Mistress’ bracelet, which Lucy pocketed. Finally deciding against the theft, she left the wand on the table and gestured for Orion and Byron to follow her out. They walked back to town, disheveled but happy to be alive. Byron was now noticeably limping, but he seemed to not want Orion’s help.

“So… why were you pretending to be a man?”

“Because I was wondering what I’d look like,” Lucy answered, and Orion looked at her confused. 

“What’s your name then? Neither of you told me your name. It seems unfair since you obviously know mine.”

“My name is Orion, and that is Lucy,” Orion responded before Lucy could give him a false name.

“Lucy. It was a pleasure meeting you,” Byron said and smiled at her. “You’re as lovely as a woman as you are handsome as a man.”

Lucy laughed and held out a hand. “Nice meeting you too, Byron,” she replied shaking his hand firmly. “No writing about me. Got it.”

“But a poet surely must write from the heart,” Lord Byron said as Lucy let go of his hand. “And call me George. The both of you have earned it.”

Orion also shook George’s hand and seemed perplexed as George gave him a kiss on the cheek. Lucy smiled. Orion practically jogged to catch up with Lucy as a carriage pulled up to George. A man jumped out of it and looked George over while asking him if he was in pain. George brushed him aside with irritation.

“Need a ride?” George asked with a twinkle in his eyes.

“No thanks, George. We’ve got one of our own waiting.”

“I hope to see you again,” George called out as he got into the carriage. 

Lucy gave him a small smile as she and Orion began the trek back to their TARDIS.


	20. Eddie

The Mistress was just as angry as Lucy expected her to be. As they prepared to go back to the manor, The Mistress didn’t say a word, but her body language said it all. Her arms were folded as Lucy punched in the coordinates. Clearly fuming, she gestured for Lucy to operate the controls. Orion gave Lucy a curious look. Lucy said nothing and decided to just get them to the manor. 

As the TARDIS landed, Lucy gave Orion a look to go inside ahead of her. He seemed reluctant but left. D’Artagnan got off the seat to crawl onto Lucy’s shoulder; Lucy stroked him on the head as she walked over to The Mistress. 

“Are you actually mad at me for some bizarre reason, or are you just mad that you didn’t get to see The Doctor?” Lucy asked.

The Mistress pouted for a moment before she replied, “It’s not bizarre. You just seem to like The Doctor quite a bit.”

“Every time I meet The Doctor, I immediately do what’s necessary to get back to you without raising suspicion. I’m here, aren’t I?”

The Mistress still pouted angrily, but she had uncrossed her arms. She replied, “But you take your sweet time.”

“There are usually lives on the line, and I still came back. I chose you,” Lucy said matter-of-factly. “Let’s go inside and have some tea.”

The Mistress gave Lucy an embarrassed smile before she got up out of the seat. Lucy put D’Artagnan down onto the couch before leaving. She would have to find a more permanent solution for him soon, but for now he seemed to like the TARDIS. The Mistress and Lucy walked to the manor quickly and noticed that the door was still open. They picked up their step. Inside, the maids were unsure of what to do as Orion stared down a man.

“Lucy?” the man said uncertainly.

Lucy barely had time to get a good look before she was enveloped in a hug. Eddie clung to her like wreckage in a storm, and after a few moments, Lucy returned the hug. Tears threatened to leak from her eyes, but she held them back. Suddenly, he let go and looked into her eyes.

“We didn’t know what happened to you. We thought you were DEAD, Lucy,” Eddie said angrily, but his eyes were pleading. 

“Well, as you can see, I’m fine, Eddie,” Lucy replied evenly. “I told you that I just needed a break… from everything.”

“Yeah, but it’s been two years. You couldn’t even call.”

Lucy was struck dumb by the look on Eddie’s face and looked around to see everyone intently watching their conversation. She sighed and pointed to the gardens.

“Let’s talk outside,” Lucy said pointedly as the maids pretended to start working on cleaning an already spotless banister.

Eddie nodded, but he was still fuming as he walked outside. Orion grabbed Lucy’s arm.

“Call for me if you need my assistance.”

“I’ll be fine, Orion. I’ve known him since I was seven; he’s not going to do anything that I won’t see coming,” Lucy replied and pulled her hand away.

“Except find us,” The Mistress said irritably.

“But he asked for a Professor, didn’t he?” Mary asked Ally, and The Mistress threw them a look.

“So… I believe you didn’t see that coming,” Lucy responded and followed Eddie out of the house.

Eddie was waiting by the roses as Lucy walked outside. Lucy took a second to watch him. His golden hair glittered in the sun as he absentmindedly touched one of the flowers. Taking a deep breath, she walked out to the gardens. 

Eddie ran his fingers through his hair and turned to Lucy. He no longer seemed angry. Lucy stopped a few feet away and watched him carefully. 

“I… didn’t mean to blame you. I know it’s been hard for you. I was just worried… Everyone was,” Eddie said and looked at her tearfully. 

“Well, you can tell them that I’m fine,” Lucy replied, meeting his compassion with an icy stare.

“Why didn’t you call?”

Lucy looked away and contemplated her answer. What would even be her real answer? She was too busy trying to fix a time machine, or she didn’t want them to convince her to give it up. He wouldn’t believe one of those answers, and the other would hurt him.

“I was… busy. Adjusting to my new life,” Lucy said with a smile. “I’m sorry for worrying you. I should have at least let you know that I’m okay.”

“Stop that,” Eddie pleaded quietly and took a step closer. “I know you better than that. You’re just running away from your problems rather than face them, and I don’t blame you for that. But it’s okay. You can stay with me, and we’ll figure something out. You’re not alone.”

“No, I have things I need to do here. I’m fine. And just what problems am I running away from? Having a dead family? Yeah, I’ll admit that’s a problem.”

“You know I didn’t mean it like that! You know you need help… coping. What you went through with—”

“Eddie! Enough. How did you even know I was here?”

“I didn’t,” Eddie admitted. “When Professor Jones received a phone call during our questioning, we allowed her to answer it, so we could track its location. I just thought that it would be a dead end to be honest. Your friends didn’t even know her name. How is that possible?”

“They aren’t incredibly bright.”

Eddie scoffed and said, “You know other people from your school have gone missing, right? I thought… we thought you might be dead. The Professor left so suddenly after you disappeared… we thought…”

Lucy put her hand on his arm and said, “She wasn’t behind those other disappearances. I just… needed a fresh start. Somewhere where everything didn’t remind me of them. I’m sorry I hurt you. Truly.” 

Eddie gave her another hug, and Lucy looked into the window of the manor. The Mistress gave her an icy stare before disappearing into the manor’s depths.


	21. Reasons

The sun shone down on Eddie and Lucy as she walked him back to his car. She wasn’t looking forward to The Mistress’ reaction when she got back inside, but she wanted to at least make sure Eddie knew that she was safe. Eddie stopped suddenly. Lucy stared at him confused.

“You said that you know she isn’t behind the disappearances. How?” Eddie suddenly asked as his blue eyes stared into hers.

She avoided his glance at first but replied, “I’ve been with her the entire time. The only times that we’ve been separated were… I assume, when she was being questioned by you. Twice, right?”

Eddie nodded as though thinking it over and said, “Okay, but the timing is still strange. It wasn’t long after the two of you vanished that other girls started to disappear.”

“Odd coincidence, I guess?”

“How did you meet her? She taught you, right?” Eddie asked as though trying to decipher a puzzle. 

“Yeah, she taught my physics class. We didn’t really talk much… it was a large class,” Lucy explained, hoping to get him to leave peacefully. “It wasn’t until after… you know. She came to tell me… to give me her condolences.”

“And so she just offered you a job?”

“Kind of. She wanted to take time off and publish a book. I… was broken, Eddie. I needed a place where people weren’t looking at me like I was a charity case.”

“I wasn’t… I didn’t know you felt that way,” Eddie said and scratched the back of his head. “Do you really trust her? I just… She gives off a weird vibe.”

“I can see how you’d feel that way, but she’s… not that bad. She’s just a bit… condescending at times,” Lucy replied hesitantly. 

Eddie laughed and said, “Well, I can see that. But… you know, I wasn’t just saying that stuff. I mean it. Anytime you need or want me to come back and get you, I’ll be here.”

“Okay, I’ll keep that in mind.”

“We may need to ask you to come in for questioning. Just to give her an alibi,” Eddie said, not looking Lucy in the eyes.

“If absolutely necessary, yes.”

Eddie looked like he had more to say, but he just gave Lucy a piece of paper. “My number, in case you need it.” He gave her a smile, but his eyes were pleading. Lucy gave him a hug before he got into the car and drove away from the manor.

Most of what she had told Eddie had been the truth. As she walked back to the manor, she remembered the day she and The Mistress had first talked to each other. The Mistress had been her physics teacher the semester before, but Lucy had never really talked much to her. A simple hello in the hallways was about the maximum amount of contact between them. But that day had been an awful one for Lucy.

Even months after her family’s accident, Lucy had had trouble coping. Burying most of her pain deep inside and focusing on her class work had helped, but even that could only dull the pain. She still wasn’t entirely sure what had made her snap. Usually Lucy was good at just focusing on her work and blocking everything else out, but on that day she simply couldn’t help herself. She had only realized the mess that she’d made after it was all done. Glassware shattered all around her, and her notebook had been thrown across the room. Terrified, Lucy had curled up on the floor and shut her eyes. Trying to imagine herself anywhere else as the room had swirled around her.

Footsteps had clicked on the linoleum as The Mistress entered the room. Lucy had looked up to see her old physics professor staring at her in a mixture of confusion and interest. 

“Oh, dear. Quite a mess you’ve made here,” The Mistress had said with a glance at the wreckage. “Impressive even.”

Lucy had said nothing. Being condemned to a teacher’s lecture had seems appropriate to what Lucy had done although she had noted that The Mistress’ praise had at least sounded genuine. 

“If you could go anywhere, where would you go?”

That irked Lucy, and she retorted, “To when my parents and brother were alive… but that’s pretty predictable, don’t you think?”

The Mistress had shrugged and continued, “But if I could truly offer you a way to go anywhere, what would you give me in return? Your silence? Your loyalty? You have to be sick of the whispers. The stares. The pity of those who aren’t even your equal. Don’t you want away from this place?”

That had caught Lucy’s attention. People had been incredibly kind to her since her family’s demise, but that hadn’t stopped the gossip. Lucy had wondered what would be said about her current predicament with a sigh. No doubt that they would say that she needed more counseling. 

“I want to leave… I want to leave!” Lucy had said with more conviction. “But why should I go with you?”

The Mistress pulled out a gun and put it to Lucy’s head. She had sung, “Because I said so.”

Lucy looked into The Mistress’ eyes and responded, “Either give me a reason to go or pull the trigger. Quit wasting my time.”

The Mistress’ eyes had narrowed, and she continued to stare at Lucy for a few moments and slowly lowered the gun. Laughter soon emanated from The Mistress. Lucy could do nothing but stare at her in a mixture of irritation and confusion.

“You are special after all,” The Mistress had said with a genuine smile. “I love your eyes… I’ll give you a reason, but you’re going to have to trust me.”

After that, The Mistress had showed her the inside of the TARDIS, and they had begun to fix it. Lucy now stopped at the manor door and took a deep breath. The look on The Mistress’ face had not been encouraging. With a large sigh Lucy opened the door and stepped inside.


	22. Needs of The Mistress

The chandelier swung ominously overhead as Lucy entered The Mistress’ room. In a chair by the window The Mistress sat, looking off into the garden. Lucy slowly moved closer. The Mistress said nothing as she approached, and shivers started to go up Lucy’s spine from the cold atmosphere.

“If you had just told me about him from the beginning, then I would have told him to stop looking… that I’m okay. He probably wouldn’t have even found us here. But if you want to be angry about it, then I guess that’s your prerogative,” Lucy said with a shrug and started to walk back out the room.

A small screech came from The Mistress’ chair, and Lucy felt The Mistress embrace her from behind. Confused, Lucy stopped in her tracks. This was new. The Mistress had been affectionate with Lucy before, but this seemed… almost desperate. The Mistress’ hands clung to the sides of Lucy’s blazer.

“I was afraid,” The Mistress admitted wretchedly. “I thought if you talked to him, you’d go back. You wouldn’t need me, and you’d leave me! I couldn’t… I can’t be alone. I’m a monster when I’m alone.”

The Mistress spun Lucy around to look her in the eyes; even her red hair seemed to glow like fire in the light from the window. Lucy began to get worried when she saw a desperate look in The Mistress’ sky blue eyes. 

“I’ve been getting better, haven’t I? Granted, I still don’t know the names of those insufferable nitwits.”

“You mean Emily, Ally, and Mary. I assumed you picked maids with similar ending names, so that you could remember them.”

“Yes, well, I did, but they still just don’t seem very memorable to me,” The Mistress said as though trying to defend herself. Lucy couldn’t resist rolling her eyes. “I’ve been treating them better, even if I don’t call them by name. As long as you’re with me, I feel like I can finally become the person The Doctor believed that I could be.” 

Lucy sighed and responded, “I’ll admit that you’ve been… nicer to the maids but still not exactly nice.”

“I’m trying though. Don’t I get points?”

“A few… I guess. I’m not leaving anyway. I sent him away. I might be needed for questioning, but other than that we should be fine.”

“Questioning? Oh! About the other girls.”

“Which you have nothing to do with?”

“Oh, my dear Lucy, of course not. What would I do with them when I can hardly keep up with this lot?”

“Do you know what’s happening?”

“No idea,” The Mistress said with a shrug. “Not everything is alien related. It could be some serial killer who’s really good at hiding the bodies. I didn’t sense anything while I was there. We should probably stay away though. If it is an alien, no doubt that The Doctor will stumble across it, and I’m not ready for him yet.”

“Don’t you think that we should have some kind of stunning system in place just in case we stumble across his TARDIS? That way we can stun his ship and get away if we need to.”

The Mistress thought for a few moments before her face lit up. She smiled at Lucy and said, “Yes, that’s a good idea. Also a good precaution should we ever run into any others of my kind. I’m not particularly well-liked among even my peers.”

“Shocker,” Lucy replied and turned to see Orion standing in the doorway. “Uh, yeah?”

“Lucy, could I speak to you for a moment in private?” 

Lucy and The Mistress exchanged a confused look before Lucy followed Orion out of the room. Orion stopped to open the study door, and Lucy followed him inside. The door closed behind her with a soft thump. Orion stopped by the shelves and turned back to Lucy with a sad look.

“That man. You care for him, don’t you?”

“Eddie?” Lucy asked incredulously, but her face flushed slightly. “I… well, he is my best friend, so yeah.”

“You know that isn’t what I mean,” Orion said and looked at her sadly.

“Yeah… and I did like him before. After my family… I just don’t feel anything really anymore. Or if I do, it kind of feels hollow. That’s why you need to find someone else.”

“But The Mistress is not right for you either. You need to see that she is making you worse, not better? You both are just clinging to each other, but in the end you will just end up hurt. She will leave you for The Doctor,” Orion whispered angrily at Lucy’s disapproving look. “You heard her. She is ‘not ready’ for The Doctor. What do you think will happen when she is? She will not need you anymore.”

That stung a bit, mostly because Lucy knew it was true, but she didn’t let him notice. She responded in a cold tone, “And you don’t think I have plans? Just worry about yourself. Have fun traveling with us and go home. Marry someone who’d be happy to have you, or if you’re so into human girls, there are three here. Work some magic.”

Lucy waved at him dismissively and walked back to the door. A hand grabbed into hers. Lucy spun around to see Orion looking at her sadly. 

“If I could ‘work magic,’ do you not think I would have you by now?” he asked with a small, sad smile. “I do not need an answer now, but I need you to know that I will wait for you. 

The Mistress is not trustworthy. You have a home with me, whether it is as my queen or my friend. This ‘Eddie’ will only be hurt by the new you, and The Mistress… well, as I said, she is not to be trusted.”

Orion kissed her hand gently before opening the door, and Lucy yanked her hand away. She gave him a glare and walked back down the hall.


	23. The Second Most Beautiful Planet

“Okay, D’Artagnan, what about this?” Lucy said holding up a picture of a mountain lion.

D’Artagnan’s small body shook and spread outward, growing from a small dog to a mountain lion. It could pass as a shadow of one, Lucy noted. With jet black fur and eyes, it looked to Lucy for approval. Lucy smiled.

“Good job, buddy,” Lucy said encouragingly, and D’Artagnan rubbed up against her with glee. It seemed to be adapting well to life inside the TARDIS, but Lucy still felt bad. Charlotte had given D’Artagnan to Lucy, so he could explore. All Lucy had done so far was leave him inside the ship. She rubbed his head adoringly. Testing what things he could turn into was the first part of her plan to get him at least in the manor. 

“Whoa!” The Mistress said, and Lucy heard the TARDIS door close. “So this is what you’ve been doing.”

Lucy’s smile turned into a frown as she shrugged and continued to pet D’Artagnan. Truthfully, she had been hanging out in the TARDIS to avoid Orion and The Mistress. While she didn’t want to admit it, Orion’s words had struck a chord, but as long as Lucy got her other two places out of the deal, she didn’t particularly care. 

“Well, as I remember you still have two more choices. Have you given any thought to them? But please… somewhere more exciting than the moon.”

Lucy smiled a little. The Mistress was clearly trying her best to cheer Lucy up in her own strange way. D’Artagnan gently bit Lucy’s tie.

“Oy! None of that, you,” Lucy said but watched in amazement as D’Artagnan’s form shifted into a tie.

“Amazing!” The Mistress said excitably. “The Racnoss’ notes didn’t say anything about that.”

“She probably didn’t know that he could even do that,” Lucy responded and took off her tie. She picked up D’Artagnan and put him on instead. “You okay?”  
D’Artagnan made a small rumble in reply but stayed, so Lucy guessed that it was fine. She looked up and noticed The Mistress watching her carefully. Clearly she was still waiting on Lucy’s reply of her earlier question.

“How about… to the second most beautiful planet you’ve seen. Gallifrey’s the most beautiful, right?” Lucy asked cheekily.

The Mistress replied with a genuine smile, “Yes… hmm… the second most beautiful? I’d have to say The Library.”

“Florana!” Orion’s voice called out from the entryway, and The Mistress’ smile turned into a grimace.

“Florana’s over-rated. Too many tourists.”

“Not in the off-season.”

“That’s the only time worth going.”

“No, there is a lot more to see than just the beaches, or is that all you have bothered looking at?"

The Mistress stared Orion down before her face broke out in a Cheshire grin. She said playfully, “I have an idea. Why don’t we go to both? And Lucy can decide which one she prefers.”

Orion looked at The Mistress in suspicion before replying, “And what is the reward for your game?”

“Winner decides.”

“I don’t think I like this idea,” Lucy spoke up irritably.

“Okay then. Lucy decides the reward,” The Mistress amended, and Lucy sighed. “Florana first, I suppose. After all, this is the 20th century on your Earth. Earthlings don’t find Florana for until the 30th, so they haven’t had the chance to ruin in yet.”

Lucy held her face in her palm and tried to gather the rest of her patience. This was going to be a trying day. A hand on her shoulder caught her attention, and she looked up to see Orion.

“Are you feeling well enough for this?” he asked.

Lucy shrugged off his hand and replied, “I’ll be fine.”

“You have been… missing for the last few days. If you are not well, then you should rest. We can do this another time.”

“I’m fine,” Lucy said evenly and noticed that The Mistress had paused before inputting the location into the TARDIS. 

“But you have been avoiding someone?”

Lucy glared at Orion and answered, “No. I’ve been here with D’Artagnan. It’s not fair that he gets cooped up in here all the time. I was hoping to take him with us on the next adventure. That’s what Charlotte wanted.”

Orion looked around the TARDIS warily and asked, “Where is it then?”

D’Artagnan reached up and gave Orion a quick slap before returning to his tie form. Lucy held back a laugh. Orion stared at the tie, affronted, while The Mistress openly laughed at Orion’s confusion and anger.

“So what exactly is Florana anyway? No, let me guess. Flowers and beaches,” Lucy said, trying to get Orion’s attention away from D’Artagnan.

“Yes, but there is much more to it. You will see soon enough,” Orion replied with a self-assured smirk. 

The Mistress smugly put it the destination into the TARDIS, and Lucy held onto the couch as they took off. Lucy watched The Mistress in silence. All Lucy had was one more trip after this one, but The Mistress didn’t seem to care much. Did she think that Lucy would stay with her regardless, or did she have a plan to leave Lucy afterwards? 

Orion whispered to Lucy, “Having second thoughts yet?”

Lucy glared at him, but it didn’t seem to discourage him as he just smiled back. The plan to get him latched onto someone else would have to be sped up as Lucy noted how close he was. D’Artagnan smacked him away again. Lucy turned to The Mistress and smiled; D’Artagnan was certainly a keeper. The Mistress smirked back at her and landed the TARDIS with a flourish. 

“Welcome to Florana. Don’t worry. After this we’ll visit a planet worth our time,” The Mistress said and smirked at Orion’s scowl. 

Despite The Mistress’ clear disdain for the planet, Lucy couldn’t help but feel excited as she approached the door. With a shaky hand, Lucy opened the TARDIS door and stepped out into a brand new world.


	24. Florana

Flowers carpeted the ground. They gave off a sweet scent as Lucy reached down to grab one. She smelled the flower and looked to see The Mistress’ reaction; The Mistress did not look pleased. With her arms crossed, The Mistress looked at the scenery haughtily. Lucy curiously looked over to Orion. He smiled at her with an air of excitement; she kept her face neutral as she looked around the planet.

She didn’t want to admit it, but Florana was gorgeous. A beach could be seen in the distance. The sea seemed to sparkle in the sunlight. Yet surprisingly despite the fair weather, no one was on the beach.

“I know that it’s not beach season, but… even in Winter on Earth there are people at least walking on the beach,” Lucy said and looked to the sky. The moon was larger than it was on Earth, but the skies looked pretty clear.

“It’s not just the weather that’s dangerous,” The Mistress explained. “The tides here cause the waters to be rather… treacherous.”

Lucy nodded and looked at the moon. No doubt it had something to do with this planet’s moon being much closer to its surface. Deciding that the water was low enough at the moment, Lucy decided to take a walk on the beach. She noticed an odd seashell and bent down to get a closer look. Moving quickly under the sand, it disappeared from view, and Lucy let out a laugh of amusement. Taking off her gloves, she started to brush off the sand that had sprayed her when the creature fled. Puzzled, she stopped and touched the ground. 

The sand was incredibly soft; the closest thing Lucy could compare it to was when one of her classmates had brought a chinchilla for show and tell. Soft was hardly a word that could describe it. A sneeze caught Lucy’s attention, and she turned to see The Mistress clutching a handkerchief.

“I thought that I could handle this planet in the ‘off-season,’ but it would appear that I cannot. You two have fun. Don’t go too far. I’ll be waiting in the TARDIS,” The Mistress said curtly before disappearing into the TARDIS with a flourish.

Lucy rolled her eyes; the sneeze had sounded anything but genuine. The Mistress likely just wanted them to hurry up.

“Follow me,” Orion said gesturing to a forest. “There is something here that I want to show you. I have been told that Earth does not have this.”

Exasperated but equally curious, Lucy followed Orion into the wooded area. Deeper into the forest, there were streams. Orion took a look around and seemed to be trying to find something, while Lucy peered into the water. The streams were clear as crystal. No doubt this was a world that hadn’t seen pollution yet, and although it irked Lucy, she couldn’t help but think that this planet likely was the most beautiful place that she’d ever seen. 

Orion gestured once again for Lucy to follow him. Sighing, Lucy kept pace. Soon they walked into a clearing, and Lucy noticed a small clear pond with a bush growing beside it. Orion had knelt beside it and gave Lucy an encouraging smile. Lucy put back on her gloves before she knelt beside him. The shadows had hidden the flowers before, but now Lucy could see black roses growing in the bushes. 

“Black roses grow on this planet; blue roses bloom on my planet,” Orion explained as Lucy looked at the flowers in amazement. “Neither grows on Earth. According to Mary at least.”

“Mary’s right,” Lucy said, once again took off her glove, and felt the flower. How was everything on this planet so soft… so beautiful? The roses’ scent filled the air around them, and Lucy turned to Orion. He was giving her a small smile.

“I noticed… at the manor, you and Mary take care of the gardens. You could easily let Mary do the work. After all, The Mistress seems to give you more than enough to do… Although… I believe she does that to keep you away from me as much as possible.”

Lucy didn’t respond, but she knew that he was right. Her workload had increased significantly since Orion’s arrival. She let go off the flower and put her glove back on.

“You like flowers though. They relax you. I’ve seen the look on your face.”

“We should head back now. The Mistress is waiting,” Lucy replied sharply and started to walk back to the TARDIS. A shuffling of footsteps behind her told her that Orion had caught up. 

“Please, stop. I just want to talk. The Mistress always interferes when she sees us together. I just… want to talk for a little while longer. Please.”

Lucy stopped and turned to face him. His eyes pleaded with her silently. She sighed and smoothed down her coat. 

“Okay, five minutes. Then we can talk as we’re walking back to the TARDIS.”

Orion’s face brightened, and he said excitedly, “Good! What’s your favorite color?”

“Pass,” Lucy replied and rolled her eyes. “That’s a ridiculous question.”

“Please?” Orion asked beseechingly.

Lucy sighed and said, “Probably green. I’m not really into colors. Why do you care?”

“I want to learn more about you. At the manor… none of the others really know about you either.”

“You asked about me?” Lucy asked irritably.

Orion gave her a sad smile and replied, “As I said, The Mistress doesn’t let me get to know you personally, so I… had to ask around.” Orion frowned slightly and seemed to want to ask her something.

“You know that we only have about three more minutes here. If you have something that you want to ask me, you should probably do it now.”

“I know it’s odd, but… one of the maids seems to think that you and The Mistress are a… pair.”

Lucy smirked and asked, “And what if we are?”

Orion looked at her with a hurt look in his eyes before he replied, “I know that it’s not true, but…The Mistress is very attached to you, isn’t she?”

“I guess,” Lucy replied nonchalantly before she heard a strange rustling sound coming from the forest around them. 

Orion met her eyes, and they moved forward to find that the path was now completely blocked by thorns.

“Great,” Lucy said with a sigh.


	25. Thorns of a Rose

“I had nothing to do with this!” Orion said quickly with a worried look on his face.

“Calm down. I believe you. The Mistress won’t wait too long to find us anyway,” Lucy said as she stared at the thorns. After a few seconds of no reply, she turned to see Orion heading back to the clearing as though in a fog. “Hey! Let’s wait here.”

Orion turned around at the sound of Lucy’s voice, and Lucy noticed how unfocused his eyes looked. Like he was in some kind of trance. After a few quick steps, she noticed a smell that almost made her gag before D’Artagnan shielded her as a cloth covering her nose and mouth. It was the smell of roses but incredibly concentrated. Orion started to walk back to the clearing, and Lucy ran after him. No doubt it was some kind of lure. Lucy wondered why it affected Orion so differently and ran to grab him; the closer they got to the clearing the stronger the smell became.

Kneeling before the rose bush sat a girl or at least she resembled a girl. She turned with surprise to see Lucy and stared her down with cold, black eyes. Lucy tried to remember if The Mistress or her books had ever described a creature like this. The woman, or what Lucy suspected was a female of her species, had a humanoid figure with pale green skin. The thing that gave her away as some sort of plant alien was her hair. At first glance the woman seemed to have green hair with flowers in her hair, but on closer inspection Lucy noticed that the flowers were growing out of her hair. Black roses.

“Excuse me,” Lucy said politely but held Orion in place. “Could you stop it… with the wall of thorns? We need to get back to our ship.”

The woman tilted her head and looked Lucy up and down. A smirk appeared on her face before she answered, “I will allow you to leave but not him. You don’t want him anyway. The only people affected by my roses are the lovelorn.”

“Uh, how about no? I’ll be leaving, and I’m taking this with me,” Lucy said and grabbed Orion’s arm. “Snap out of it!”

His eyes remained unfocused, but he didn’t move toward the woman as long as Lucy had her hand on his arm. The woman hissed at Lucy in fury.

“Why are you interfering?! You don’t even want him! I heard you two talking. Leave him to me! I’ll take care of him better than you will!”

Lucy stared at the woman in fury before forcing herself to calm down enough to ask, “What’s your name?”

“What?!”

“Your name?”

“You couldn’t even pronounce it. I know the stink of your kind.”

“Okay, well, I was trying to be civil, but now I don’t care. Why don’t you play this fair? You’re basically drugging him to get him to come to you. Stop your nonsense, and we’ll see who he chooses.”

The woman bit her lip nervously and asked, “Why are you even helping him? I thought you wanted him to leave you alone.”

“I do. But I’m not selfish enough to sentence him to a life of being forced to be with someone against his will,” Lucy said angrily. Plus the fact that The Mistress and Lucy were supposed to be looking after him for the royal family of Fantazix, and Lucy doubted that they’d accept the fact that they’d just lost their only son.

The woman started to cry, and Lucy looked on helplessly. She was really no good at comforting people, but that seemed to be the only way out of this situation. 

“You don’t know how lonely it is here. People only come here for beach season. I just wanted someone to stay with me.”

“Aren’t there more of your kind here?”

“Maybe, but I can’t move from this clearing. Every time I do, I feel sick. Please just leave him here; you already have a mistress.”

“Uh, she’s not that kind of mistress.”

A revving sound made both Lucy and the woman’s eyes go wide. Clearly, The Mistress had grown tired of waiting. The Mistress walked into the clearing holding what could only be described as a giant weed whacker. The fear of the woman seemed to cancel out whatever pheromones that she was releasing into the air as Orion grabbed onto Lucy’s arm wearily.   
The woman ran into the bush as The Mistress approached. Lucy walked over to the bush and held her hand up for The Mistress to stop. The Mistress gave her an odd look. Lucy ignored her glare as she knelt on the ground by the rose bush.

“Hey, Miss. She’s not going to hurt you. Please come out, and maybe she can help.”

The woman slowly came out of the bush and watched The Mistress in fear. But Lucy convinced her to share her woes with The Mistress. The Mistress listened, but she glared at the woman.

“And why should we help you?” The Mistress asked coldly, and Lucy gave her a reproachful look. 

“You shouldn’t,” the woman said shamefully. “But I would like you to. Please.”

After noticing Lucy’s glare, The Mistress sighed and replied, “I’ve never heard of one of your kind being bound to a specific place. What exactly happens when you try to leave?”

“I feel nauseous, and it gets harder to breathe.”

The Mistress left and came back with something in her hand. She opened her hand to reveal a small plant. At once the woman recoiled from the offending plant. The Mistress nodded as though confirming a theory.

“This isn’t native to this place, and it’s rather invasive. It can cause symptoms in your kind. All we need to do is clear a path. You were right to ask me for help. Lesser people wouldn’t have noticed it.”

Lucy shot her a dirty look before she said with a grin, “Well, isn’t that good news? You can find it then.”

The Mistress scowled, but she went to work doing “servants’ chores” as Lucy tended to Orion.


	26. New Mystery

Orion was sleeping peacefully in the safety of the TARDIS, so Lucy walked outside to help The Mistress. Grumbling to herself, The Mistress had a bag full of plants. Lucy walked up the path and returned The Mistress’ glare with a smile. The Mistress’ face softened, and she pouted.

“Your flower should be able to leave now,” The Mistress said with irritation. “Although I still think some weed killer would be standard.”

Lucy sighed and gave The Mistress a tired look. 

“Fine. I don’t understand why helping her is important to you.”

“Being alone is… Well, no one should be forced into solitude,” Lucy said awkwardly. 

The Mistress stopped pouting and turned to Lucy with a look of concern; Lucy looked at the ground and scratched the back of her neck.

“I mean, no one being able to stand her attitude problem is one thing, but she should at least get the chance.” 

The Mistress laughed and gave Lucy a smile. Handing Lucy the bag, The Mistress then enveloped Lucy in a hug. Lucy froze in shock before relaxing into her arms. The hug wasn’t her standard needy touching or her desperate clinging; it was gentle and warm. Lucy returned the hug for a few moments, wrapping her arms around The Mistress. A giggle made Lucy end the hug. 

“I’m sorry. That’s just the first time you’ve hugged me back,” The Mistress explained and gave Lucy an embarrassed smile. “I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Lucy felt her face heat up as she turned away, so The Mistress couldn’t see. She cleared her throat and said, “Yeah. Okay. I’m fine. I’ll just… throw this away? Why is it in a bag? Are we taking it with us?”

Now The Mistress looked somewhat embarrassed and explained, “It does have some uses, but I was more curious about where it came from. It’s not native to this planet, and it seems to be an incredibly potent variety. I believe that someone may have put it here to test it out on her. The Doctor may need that information at some point, and you did want to help the woman. If I’m right and someone planted it here purposefully, then they’ll be back on some point to collect the data.”

Lucy nodded and carried the bag back to the ship; Orion was awake and leaning on the console. He smiled in relief at the sight of Lucy.

“Oh good. I don’t really remember much. I was worried that something happened,” Orion said.

“You should be asleep,” Lucy replied irritably. “You look tired. We can go to the Library some other time.”

“No, I’m okay,” Orion argued standing straight up. “At least… I can handle a library. If I get too tired, I’ll just go back to the ship.”

Lucy looked to The Mistress to get her opinion. The Mistress just gave her a shrug as though it wasn’t her problem. With a sigh Lucy started to get the TARDIS ready for takeoff.

“So where are we going, love?” The Mistress asked with a small smile at Orion’s discomfort.

“The Library, I guess,” Lucy responded, and The Mistress smugly put in the coordinates. 

The TARDIS took off as Lucy got Orion to sit down. Orion gave Lucy a curious look before blushing and turning away. 

“I remember you stopping her from taking me.”

Lucy took a step back from him and replied, “You are currently under our care. I doubt that your parents would be pleased if we lost the only heir to the throne.”

“My aunt would be. After all then my cousin could take over. But… that’s not the reason you gave her.”

“Well, that argument was more compelling. She wasn’t a heartless creature. Just lonely,” Lucy said with a sad smile. “I think that I could have talked her out of taking you even if The Mistress hadn’t burst in with a giant gardening tool. But it definitely did speed up the process.”

The Mistress laughed at that, but Orion still looked worried.

“Did that plant have something to do with it?” Orion asked, pointing to the bag that Lucy had set down.

“Yes, do you know something about it?”

“Not much. I know that it grows on my planet, but it didn’t always. We’ve had to find ways to cut its growth or kill it off. It has some bad effects on some of our native plants.”

“So it grows there too?” The Mistress mumbled to herself. Clearly, she was trying to figure out what was behind the toxic plant, but Lucy just wanted to see the Library and go home to her awaiting bed. 

“Should we inform my people? Is it dangerous?”

“Just to other plants,” The Mistress replied dismissively before thinking it over. “At least at the moment.”

Orion almost stood, but Lucy gave him a look which made him settle back down. He smoothed down his shirt and asked, “What do you mean by that? Do you think it can grow toxic to my people?”

“Well, not by nature alone although I would still be wary of it. I believe that someone may be altering it. Making it more toxic. It would be a good way to fight against any creatures of a plant-based origin, and it wouldn’t affect creatures of a more animalistic origin. Not at first anyway.”

“What do you mean?”

“She means that it’s not dangerous to us, but it could be to our food sources. If it kills plants, then it would leave less food for livestock which means even less food for anything higher up in the food chain,” Lucy replied.

“I need more data before I can come up with a logical solution. Luckily for us, we happen to be headed to a place of information,” The Mistress said with a catlike grin. “My pick turned out to be so useful.”

“But you wouldn’t even know if it hadn’t been for mine,” Orion countered as The Mistress’ eyes narrowed. 

“That’s enough, you two,” Lucy spoke up before The Mistress could reply. “You both uncovered a mystery. Now let’s solve it quickly, so we can go home and sleep.”


	27. The Library

The TARDIS landed on the surface of the Library with a loud clang. Lucy looked to The Mistress in worry and confusion, and The Mistress gave her a shrug.

“My bad. Wrong lever,” The Mistress explained distractedly.

Lucy’s eyes narrowed with suspicion, but she said nothing. The Mistress seemed off. Finding that strange plant seemed to be bothering The Mistress deeply for some reason, but Lucy doubted that The Mistress would give her a direct answer. The Mistress gave Lucy a catlike smile before walking quickly to the door. The doors opened to reveal… not a library. They were on a roof of some kind. She could see nothing but buildings in the distance and assumed that they were in a city.

“So are we on top of the Library?” Lucy asked hesitantly.

“Well, considering that the entire planet is the Library, then yes. We most certainly are.”

“The entire planet?!” Lucy asked and ran over to the railing. She could see the different passageways through the buildings. People could be seen walking from one building to the next with looks of excitement on their faces. Lucy turned back around to see Orion looking around with an air of boredom and The Mistress looking… distracted.

The Mistress noticed Lucy looking at her curiously and said, “I’m going to look up a little more about the plant we found. Lucy, you should take a look around. I’ll find you when it’s time to go. Orion… well, I suppose that you can just stand there and look pretty.”

Orion watched The Mistress walk into the stairwell with a look of mild irritation before turning to Lucy. Clearing his throat, he held out his hand and said, “I’d be happy to accompany you.”

Lucy rolled her eyes and started to follow The Mistress before noticing Orion’s puppy eyes staring at her. With a sigh she made a “follow me” gesture, and Orion quickly and happily followed her into the building. The walls were lined with books. Forgetting about Orion, Lucy ran up to look at the different books in fascination. Most of them were on plants. At least it confirmed what The Mistress had told them about trying to find out more about the weird plant, but Lucy still felt irritated. Lately The Mistress had separated from Lucy during their excursions. There had been good reasons for a few of the instances, but Lucy didn’t understand why The Mistress didn’t want her to help with this research. During their time repairing the TARDIS, The Mistress had taught her everything she knew about TARDIS function and maintenance. So why the sudden secrecy?

“You look sad.”

Lucy looked up from the bookcase. Orion was leaning slightly on one of the bookcases and giving her a worried look. Brushing her hair out of her face, Lucy gathered herself. She could talk to The Mistress about her thoughts later.

“It’s nothing,” Lucy said brusquely and looked at one of the books.

“She’s hiding something. From you. I know you see it.”

Lucy refused to reply and looked at the book’s cover, The Language of Flowers. Flipping through the pages, she pretended to be interested.

“What flower are you looking for?” Orion asked quietly, startling Lucy.

“Uh,” Lucy said less than eloquently and glanced at the page. “Forget me not. Although I suppose that one’s rather self-explanatory. Oh, interesting.”

“What does it say?”

“That it can mean a connection that lasts through time. I didn’t know that... I've only heard the story about the lovers. One of them gets dies, and the flower gets the name.”

“Do you know a lot about flower meanings?”

“I know a little. My brother’s best friend wanted to be a florist, so she’d come by the house and tell me different things about them. Different colors of the same flower sometimes have completely different meanings.”

“Like roses,” Orion said, and Lucy met his eyes. He looked incredibly tired. The bookcase and his pride were probably the only things keeping him off of the ground.

“Yeah, um, you can go back to the ship. I won’t go too far away from this spot, and I’ll probably go back to the ship myself anyway.”

“No. I can wait. I like spending time with you.”

Lucy rolled her eyes and responded, “Okay then. I’m just reading anyway. It’s not like there’s anything exciting that you’re going to miss.”

“I’ll be fine.”

Lucy shrugged and put the book back on the shelf. This section seemed to be on flowers. She saw a book on growing black roses that caught her eye. Hopefully that woman would be fine now; she could finally leave the grove. Lucy only hoped that she would be able to find people that would want to be her companions, but Lucy was just glad that she had talked The Mistress out of harming the woman.

Lucy snuck a peek at Orion while pretending to be interested in another book. He had his eyes closed and his arms crossed while he leaned on the bookcase. His eyelashes fluttered as he opened his eyes, and Lucy went back to her book feeling a slight heat in her cheeks. Lucy still didn’t understand why he was so interested in her. It wasn’t like she was nice to him or anything. Tolerant would be far more correct, and after years of dealing with The Mistress’ antics, Orion wasn’t incredibly difficult to tolerate.

“Uh… so, Orion, why—?” Lucy started but was cut off. 

“Lucy! Orion! We need to go! Now!” The Mistress called out at them from further down the hall.

Orion faltered, but Lucy grabbed his arm and led him back up the staircase and into the TARDIS. The Mistress dropped books from the Library on the chair before quickly closing the doors. Books fell onto the floor as The Mistress rushed around the panels and started the ship. With a quick slam of a lever they were off. 

“Uh, what was that?” Lucy asked and helped Orion sit down before walking over to The Mistress. “Did you even check those out?”

The Mistress threw her arms around Lucy and whispered, “No time. The Library was about to go on lockdown. People started going missing.”

“So we just left them?”

There was a look of fear in The Mistress’ eyes as she told Lucy, “There was nothing that we could do.” The Mistress rested her head on Lucy’s shoulder for a few moments before she let Lucy go and took them back to the manor.


	28. Matchmaker

The Mistress had cloistered herself in her room since they had gotten back from The Library. When Lucy had asked her if she wanted dinner, she had told Lucy to take the day off with the maids and relax. Lucy sighed with impatience. The Mistress was a hard person to understand. Why was she pulling away all of a sudden? Did she think that Lucy would decide to go with Orion and become his queen? No, Lucy knew that The Mistress was smarter than that, so what was the real reason?

“Lucy!” Orion called out and smiled at her. “Mary and Ally told me that you had the day off. Would you accompany me to the garden? We never got to finish our conversation.”

The Mistress’ attitude likely had nothing to do with Orion, but Lucy still felt bitter as she tried to figure a way out of this one.

“Well, I still have things that I need to do around the house, so it’ll probably be a while,” Lucy replied and walked around him.

“I could help. What do you need to do?”

“Grocery shopping for one. A few of the necessary items expired. I think I’ll go ahead and take inventory, so I can go ahead and get the things we need for the next week. It’s not really a two-person job.”

“I could go with you to the store,” Orion offered.

“That won’t be necessary…” Lucy started before a thought crept into her mind. “But I suppose that if you and Emily could help me out things would go faster. She’s more knowledgeable than you are about these kinds of things, so I wouldn’t have to worry about it not getting done right.”

Orion’s face brightened, and he ran off to find Emily. Lucy sighed and grabbed a notepad. A small smirk formed on her face as she went to the kitchen to begin taking inventory. This wasn’t a new idea. Setting Orion up with Emily had been something that Lucy had begun thinking about a long time ago. Mary had a boyfriend already, and Ally didn’t swing that way. Also Lucy figured that Emily had the common sense to be a decent match for Orion. He was kind, but he often got swept up in whatever nonsense he could think of. 

“You were looking for me?” Emily asked from the doorway.

“Yes, I was wondering that if I gave you a list you and Orion could go to the store and get some things that we need. I know that you’re not on duty and that this isn’t one of your regular duties, but…”

“Yeah, I’ll do it. I live here too, don’t I? And you shouldn’t be the only one prepping. Plus Orion can do all of the heavy lifting.”

Lucy gave Emily a genuine smile and replied, “Thanks. That’d really help.”

“And I can take the Mustang?” Emily asked hopefully.

“Should be fine. Just let me finish the list and I’ll get the keys.”

“Okay,” Emily replied with more excitement than Lucy had heard from her before. “Oh and we need rice. It’s almost out.”

Lucy nodded and added rice to the list. After she made sure to check the supplies and back stock, she grabbed the keys from a drawer and found Orion and Emily chatting in the foyer. A good sign, she thought as she handed Emily the keys and some cash.

“There’s more than enough for the groceries, and go ahead and get yourselves something to eat for lunch as well. Orion hasn’t been to any of the local places. It’s a thank you gift from me. For helping out.”

They were reluctant to take the money, but Lucy talked them into it. She still had other things to do that had been neglected in the days that they were gone. She waved as Emily pulled the car out of the driveway. A small smile formed on her face as she leisurely walked back into the kitchen. Silverware still had to be polished, and the table cloth in the dining room needed to be washed. Making a mental list of the things that would need to be done tomorrow, Lucy meandered through the house.

“Did Emily just drive off with Orion?” Mary asked from the doorway.

“In the Mustang?” Ally added, appearing in the doorway behind Mary.

“Yes. They’re going to get groceries. We need a few things here and there.”

They gave each other a special look. Lucy couldn’t figure out its meaning, and it annoyed her.

“I need to finish up some things as well, so goodbye,” Lucy said with a fake smile and started to walk to the door.

“He likes you, did you know?” Ally blurted out, and Mary looked at her in shock. “What, Mary? It’s not that hard to see. He’s always asking about you. What you like and such. If you don’t do something, Emily might steal him away.”

Lucy stopped herself from smiling genuinely and answered, “Is that so? Well, I’d better look out. Anyway were you two volunteering to help with the silverware? If you’re really that bored, I can give you something to do.”

Both stuttered excuses before leaving Lucy to finish her work. Hearing the door close behind them, Lucy left out a small laugh. If only it was that simple to steal someone’s heart. She walked to the hallway to look at The Mistress’ door. It was unusual for her to go silent for this long. The Mistress would normally be shouting for Lucy by now.

Does it really matter? Lucy had one more place to go as part of their contract. What did it matter if The Mistress didn’t need or want her around anymore? Her heart ached as she thought of the place where she had wanted to go the most. She would have to play it cool though; she was so close. All she needed was one more place, and she’d never have to see any of these people again. Not the irritating Mary. Not the nosy Ally. Not the judgmental Emily nor the ever-present Orion. Not… The Mistress.

Lucy sighed at her own stupidity and got to planning. Now was not the time for feelings. There was work to be done.


	29. The Broken

The sound of a trunk closing caught Lucy’s attention as she finished compiling this week’s chores and duties. She got up from the chair with a small groan. Mary ran by Lucy into the entrance hall to open the doors for Emily and Orion. Ally soon came in after them with more groceries and a smile on her face.

“Don’t worry about putting this away, Lu. Mary and I’ve got this,” Ally said, and her grin turned mischievous.

Lucy narrowed her eyes as Mary quickly darted into the kitchen behind her. Straightening her suit, Lucy walked to where Emily and Orion were standing in the doorway with confused looks on their faces. Emily looked at Lucy questioningly, and Lucy shrugged in return. She had no idea what those two were up to. 

“Are you done with your duties for the day?” Orion asked with a shining smile.

“Actually, Orion, I was wondering if I could speak to Lucy privately,” Emily said and looked to Lucy.

“Oh, of course. Lucy, I’ll be waiting in the library when you’re done,” Orion replied and walked down the hallway.

Emily shifted uncomfortably as Orion disappeared. She was still uncomfortable with Lucy. It was understandable why she had warmed up so quickly to Orion; he was very charming. However, Lucy still couldn’t figure out what made Emily so wary. Perhaps the girl had better intuition than Lucy had thought.

“Could we take this outside?” Emily asked awkwardly.

Lucy nodded and led the way out to the garden. At first, she had been thankful for Emily’s intrusion, but now she grew more worried. Finding another maid wouldn’t be easy. The Mistress was both fickle and choosy, so Lucy hoped that it was just a request for a break. Lucy checked the garden quickly. There were no intruders, but The Mistress likely had cameras set up on the grounds. 

“Um… I wanted to ask you about Orion,” Emily said with an irritated expression.

Lucy’s heart soared. Had her plan worked? No, this was too quick for Emily to be this angry; it had to be another reason. Lucy tilted her head to the side in a questioning look asking for clarification.

“He really… cares about you, you know. I know why you did what you did, and I don’t like it at all.”

Lucy raised her eyebrow in return and asked, “Why I did what?”

“You asked me to go with Orion to get lunch and groceries. You were trying to push him off on someone else. Don’t you roll your eyes! You know I’m right! He fawns over you and does whatever you say whenever you say it, and you don’t care about him in the least.”

“Is that why you’re so angry? You think that I’m leading him on. I have been very direct with our guest, told him several times that I remain uninterested, and only deal with him when necessary or out of politeness. I’m sorry if you feel that I was ‘pushing him’ on you, but perhaps I was trying to get him to look to other people. To stop focusing on me.”

“Is this what the real you looks like?” Emily asked with a look of scorn and crossed her arms in indignation. “You constantly push people away with that fake politeness and that even more fake smile, but right now… you just look empty inside.”

“Thank you for your stunning analysis of my character, but… I have more pressing matters to attend to. Apologies,” Lucy retorted with snark before she started to walk back to the manor.

“Do you like being alone?” Emily asked causing Lucy to stop in her tracks. “Even I talk to Mary and Emily, but you… you only do what’s expected of you. Even Esther is warmer to us, and she avoids us whenever she can. You’re supposed to be on our level. Do you think that you’re better than us?”

Lucy let out a bark of laughter before turning to see rage on Emily’s dark face. She smirked and answered, “No, I don’t. Think I’m better than you, that is. Quite the opposite actually.”

“What?”

“You see… I have a theory on what makes people strong,” Lucy said, and Emily’s anger turned into confusion. “It’s how people react to tragedy. The strong people find strength and meaning, but the broken… well, we stay that way. The Mistress and I are broken people. I’m well aware that she knows this and is trying to fix herself. For me… I like staying the way I am.”

“What? Why?!” 

“Because it’s the only way I can be closer to them. The people I lost. I watched my little brother slowly die for five hours after the accident. Someone needs to remember them. Someone needs to hurt, and I’d rather it be me.”

“Than the detective?” Emily asked quietly before she tightened her arms around herself. “That’s pure bull. You’re just self-destructing, and you know it. You’re not doing anything for Esther, or Orion. It’s all just for yourself.”

“I am, and I do know, but keep quiet,” Lucy said abruptly with little emotion. “And don’t worry. My toxicity won’t hurt anyone. The Mistress found someone who can fix her, and soon… I’ll just leave.”

Emily looked at Lucy helplessly and asked, “Why did you choose me over the other two?”

“You’re one of the strong ones, Emily,” Lucy replied with a small, sad smile. “I’ve seen. I know. I was hoping… that you two would become good friends, so you could look after each other after I’m gone.”

Emily didn’t say anything else as Lucy returned to the manor and climbed the staircase to The Mistress’ room. Opening the door caused The Mistress to almost fall off of her seat. She gave Lucy a tense look before she relaxed and sighed.

“I forgot to lock that. Come on inside. Quickly. Close it behind you. I’m working on something. You have the day off. Why don’t you, Orion, and the girls go somewhere nice?”

“My third choice. I know where I want to go.”


	30. The Game

Orion was still giving Lucy an odd look as Lucy put the coordinates into the TARDIS. The Mistress had found Lucy’s request odd at first, but then she saw Emily’s demeanor as well. Lucy assumed that The Mistress thought that Lucy just needed a break from the maids. Orion, on the other hand, remained unconvinced.

“I thought that you agreed that we could talk today,” Orion said irritably.

“I didn’t agree to anything, but even if I did, plans change,” Lucy said waving away his concern. “I need a change of pace. If you don’t like it, you can wait at the manor for us to return, then we can talk.”

“No, I’ll… go along with this. I still do think it’s strange. Did you fight with Emily?”

Lucy glared at him and noticed The Mistress giving him a “shut up” gesture to the side. For the most part, Lucy had been hoping that Orion would stay at the manor, but he seemed to prefer to stick to Lucy like glue. 

“Yes.”

“You shouldn’t fight with your friends, Lucy,” Orion said and ignored The Mistress face-palming at him. 

Lucy ignored him and started to fly the ship in silence. Orion was by no means satisfied with her answer, but he seemed content to wait until they got where they needed to go. It didn’t take long for them to reach their destination as it was only about two years ago and still on Earth. Lucy changed the TARDIS’ outer appearance with the chameleon circuit and led them to the doors. 

Lucy opened the doors to reveal a small park with a stadium looming in the distance. Orion flinched as a jet flew over the stadium.

“Where are we?”

“A baseball game that I missed… due to some family drama. I was really hoping to see this with Eddie, but… he was unavailable. Detective duty.”

The Mistress tilted her head to the side and said, “I didn’t know that you like baseball.”

“Love it.”

“What’s baseball?” Orion asked.

“It’s a sport. There’s a team and the object of the game is to get the highest score by the ninth inning.”

“You had to choose such a long sport,” The Mistress said, but Lucy could see the interest in her eyes.

Lucy smirked in return and started to lead them to the stadium. D’Artagnan watched them leave with sad, black eyes, but Lucy needed to leave him behind. As Lucy purchased the tickets, The Mistress started to object.

“You can pay for the next one,” Lucy said as Orion eyed the tickets warily. “Don’t lose that. We need it to get inside.”

Lucy led the way to the seats explaining parts of the game as the aliens listened intently. After explaining the rules and finding their seats, Lucy said, “It’ll make more sense when you watch the game. There’s a flow to it. You’ll see.” 

Orion nodded, and The Mistress yawned pretending to be uninterested. However, as the game started, it held her full attention. Soon she was yelling as loud as anyone else in the stadium as the pitcher stuck another batter out. Orion was watching the game with a vested interest. Once Lucy was certain that they were distracted, she used her phone to message a cab company the address of the park. After a few more hits and foul balls, Lucy spoke to The Mistress and Orion in a low voice.

“I need to use the restroom. I’ll be back in a few.”

Orion nodded before turning his attention back to the game, and The Mistress just gave her a distracted “Okay.”

Lucy hurriedly left the aisle and walked quickly up the aisle to not draw their attention. However as soon as she was out of sight, Lucy booked it out the exit and ran for the park. The employees gave her an odd look, but it didn’t matter. The game would distract the other two for at least twenty more minutes, while Lucy was away. As she got near the park, she could see the car waiting for her. The taxi driver was looking around confused until he saw Lucy. She opened the door and thanked him before quickly closing it behind her.

“Is this the right address?” he asked and held up his phone with the address that she had sent him.

“Yes. That’s it.”

“Okay then, Ma’am.”

They drove off, and Lucy watched as the stadium disappeared from view.

“There’s a game there today. Is that where you came from?”

“Yeah, I needed to leave early though. Family emergency,” Lucy answered and hoped that would shut the driver up. It didn’t.

“Really appreciate you telling me to go to the park. The parking lot there can be a real nightmare.”

Lucy nodded in agreement and went back to looking out the window. She should feel excited. Her plan two years in the making was finally in motion, and yet… she didn’t feel anything. No remorse, no sorrow, no regret. Perhaps Emily had been right. She was simply empty inside.

“Don’t worry. There are always more games. I’m sure you can see another one. Oh no,” the driver said which immediately put Lucy on edge.

Lucy first looked to the driver to see his irritated look before he sighed and calmed down. There had been an accident of some kind. Cars were piled up in the distance causing some major traffic as all four lanes tried to merge into one. Lucy felt her heart race as she decided what to do.

“It’s going to take a while, Ma’am. We don’t seem to be moving.”

Lucy quickly dug into her pocket and pulled out the money. She replied, “I’ll walk the rest of the way. It’s only about a mile, right?”

“Yes, but… this shouldn’t take too long, and this is too much!”

“It’s an emergency,” Lucy told him and opened the car door.

She bolted into the woods and carefully maneuvered through the trails. This had definitely not been in her plans, but she would just have to move quickly.


	31. Flashing Lights

Lucy stumbled down an embankment as she rushed through the trees. Lights in the distance gave her direction. She could hear music now as she slowed her footsteps down to a brisk walk as she hurried through the parking lot to the auditorium door. She stopped for a moment to listen before she entered. It was a familiar sound, one she had grown up hearing. 

Using the darkness to hide her approach she made her way over to an empty seat. On the stage was her brother, singing in a leading role. Tonight had been his big night. He was playing the baker in a play called ‘Into the Woods,’ and Lucy had made it in time for his duet. Barry had sung the songs repeatedly around the house in the weeks before the musical, and this had been the one she’d helped him with. She closed her eyes as she tried to hold in her tears. Lucy had missed this night before, and she’d be damned before she missed it a second time.

The door to the auditorium opened, and Lucy looked at it shiftily. A man in a bowtie came into the theatre. Lucy relaxed into her seat as she angled herself more into the shadows. She had lost The Mistress about thirty minutes ago. No doubt that The Mistress would be out for blood when she caught Lucy, but that didn’t matter now. 

Her parents sat in the front, probably watching their son with misty-eyed pride; her father held a small video camera. Her mother just sat back enjoying the show. Her red hair was the only distinguishing feature that Lucy could make out through the darkness of the auditorium. Lucy felt a lump in her throat as she watched her family. The song finished, and Lucy wiped her free of any tears that had leaked free. 

A gust of air hit her, and she looked up to see her Mistress standing angrily in the doorway. A ‘come here’ gestured was all Lucy needed to follow her outside. The Mistress kept walking further into the woods beside the auditorium, and Lucy hesitantly followed her. Death was the most likely punishment. Lucy had not only abandoned the Mistress but had tricked and lied to her as well. Although Lucy knew that she should be feeling some kind of regret or panic, it was as though she was numb. 

The Mistress had stopped in front of a small shed a short ways ahead of Lucy. The shed was probably the TARDIS cloaked in a disguise, Lucy reasoned as she waited for The Mistress to strike her down.

“Why?” The Mistress whispered, and her hands shook with anger. “I… was not the best of bosses, but… I thought you were special, so WHY?! Why would you betray me?! Were you trying to save them?” The Mistress turned back to look at Lucy with eyes full of pain and fury.

“No,” Lucy replied curtly. “You’ve told me before what can happen when you try to save people who are fated to die. I just… wanted to see them.”

“Why didn’t you just tell me?” The Mistress asked with her eyes burning into Lucy’s.

“Because I didn’t know if you would let me… and I didn’t want to raise your suspicions.”

“So… you… were planning this from the beginning?!”

“Yes.” 

The Mistress snapped and slammed Lucy up against a tree in rage, but she stopped when she looked into Lucy’s eyes. Lucy assumed that her eyes looked as empty as how she felt. For some reason that seemed to give The Mistress pause, and she let go of Lucy with a sigh.

“Get in the ship. I will think of some atonement for you later.”

Lucy was confused by The Mistress’ lack of immediate punishment and didn’t move. The Mistress looked at Lucy in confusion as well.

“No,” Lucy said plainly. “You can kill me now if you want, but I am not leaving just yet.”

“What! Why? Just get in the ship, Lucy. I am being lenient with you.”

“I know. Thank you, but I intend to stay until the end. Whatever that may entail.”

The Mistress seemed shocked by Lucy’s words and asked, “What do you plan to do? Watch them die? You said that you weren’t going to save them, or was that a lie as well?”

“No, I’ve only ever lied to you once. I said that I’d be back. I wasn’t planning on ever coming back,” Lucy admitted and watched the Mistress’ face contort from confusion to rage.

“Then where will you go? Are you planning on living among the forest creatures? You don’t even meet me for another month. Were you planning on waiting until then? What kind of sad life are you leaving me for?”

“I wasn’t particularly thinking about living to be truthful.”

“What?”

Lucy shrugged at The Mistress’ confusion and answered, “Honestly I was thinking that you’d have killed me by now.”

“What,” The Mistress repeated, but it was now more of a statement than a question.

“I lied to you, betrayed you… and I don’t regret any of it. If I could do it all over again, I wouldn’t change anything.”

The Mistress charged up to her in anger as Lucy could hear the auditorium doors spring open in the distance. This gave The Mistress pause, and she walked back to the ship. Lucy heard the doors close, and the TARDIS soon slipped out of view. Lucy walked through the forest, taking her time to the bridge. In a few minutes, her parents and brother would walk out to the car, leave, and get hit by a truck, but this time Lucy would be there until the end. The exact reason why this was so important eluded Lucy, but it felt like the right thing for her to do. She had been hoping that The Mistress would cut her misery short. However The Mistress likely thought that this was a harsh enough punishment, and Lucy couldn’t help but feel that she was right. 

Lucy took a deep breath as she waited for her parents’ car to drive up the road. It was over in a matter of seconds, and Lucy had to take a seat on a nearby log as she watched the car go careening off of the road. She buried her head in her hands as sobs rocked through her body. There was a sudden pressure on her back, and she looked up to see The Mistress looking at her with heartbroken eyes. The Mistress took a seat beside Lucy and pulled Lucy into her arms. Emotions crashed through Lucy like a storm: anger, grief, helplessness, and pain. She held onto The Mistress like wreckage in a storm, and The Mistress protected her from the ambulance’s flashing lights.


	32. Apologies

Lucy sat in the TARDIS and contemplated what she needed to say to The Mistress. Orion had appeared to not know what Lucy had planned, for which Lucy could only be grateful. Even D’Artagnan was angry with her. He was hiding under the panel in the TARDIS and ignoring all of Lucy’s attempts to placate him.

“Buddy… I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking about you, and I’m so sorry. Please come out,” Lucy pleaded, but he seemed determined to stay out of sight.

“Why are they angry at you?” Orion asked, and Lucy jumped in surprise. 

“I tricked them,” Lucy answered and turned away from Orion. She didn’t feel like talking to him at the moment, and his intrusion irritated her.

“How? Why did you leave us? What were you doing?”

“I don’t… owe you an answer! I don’t owe you anything!” Lucy snapped and got off the floor. She started to move past him when she felt him grab her hand. Fury rose in her as she raised her other hand to slap him but stopped when she caught the look on his face. Orion looked at her with heartbroken eyes and held her hand gently in his own fidgeting hands.

“I know. You don’t. You saved my life on Florana. If anything, that has indebted me to you. I just… want you to trust me enough to tell me how you’re feeling… what you’re thinking. If you don’t want to tell me, that’s okay. Just so long as you’re okay now,” Orion finished with a sad smile and kissed her hand gently. 

Lucy pulled her hand back slowly, and Orion let go. As she walked out of the TARDIS and back to the manor, thoughts swirled in her head. Why was Orion so damn understanding? And of all people why did he have the misfortune to fall for her? What would talking it out solve? Lucy had made a mistake. A big one. It was a wonder that The Mistress had taken her back at all, but Orion could be right. Perhaps the best solution to dealing with The Mistress would to talk to her directly. That way if The Mistress wanted Lucy gone, she could just leave.

Lucy paused as she got to The Mistress’ door. Her body must have been on autopilot because she couldn’t even remember walking there. With a deep breath Lucy opened the door and quietly closed it behind her. The Mistress looked up from her notes. After looking at Lucy for a moment, The Mistress hastily went back to them.

“Problem?” The Mistress asked curtly.

“Do you want me to leave?”

Papers fell from The Mistress’ hands as she looked up at Lucy with confusion.

“I know that I hurt you… wronged you. If you want, I can gather my things quickly. If you want to yell at me, here I am. But I don’t like this game you’re playing. You’ve been cooped up in your room and treating me coldly. If you’re angry and don’t want to see me, that’s fine. I’ll leave.”

Lucy turned away and started to walk toward the door when she felt The Mistress grab her from behind. The Mistress buried her head in Lucy’s shoulder and whispered, “That’s not what I want.”

“Then what do you want? I’ve apologized to you quite a few times since we left, and I don’t know how to make it right because you’re not giving me a chance.”

“At The Library… when we left, I was terrified,” The Mistress admitted. “I saw a screen… people were going missing, and the system was about to deploy a function to save the rest. I didn’t know if you were one of those people that the system couldn’t find. I told you that we couldn’t save the people inside, and that was true. But… honestly as long as I got you out and to safety, I didn’t really care about the others. Learning your true goal… that upset me. To think that you don’t care about me as much as I did you. I wanted to lock you away in the TARDIS and make sure you couldn’t leave.”

Now that sounded like The Mistress, Lucy thought.

“But I realized that was wrong… and Orion wouldn’t stand for it,” The Mistress said bitterly. “I first wanted you to come with me, so I could prove something. I wanted to prove to The Doctor that I could be as good as he was. I could keep a companion. I could save the world, the universe even. But… you knew that, didn’t you? That I was using you, and you were using me. I don’t really know where we go from here… but I don’t want you to leave. Anything but that.”

Lucy turned around to see tears glistening in The Mistress’ eyes and enclosed her in a hug. The Mistress relaxed into her arms and breathed deeply.

“I suppose we can go wherever we want. We have a time machine and space ship,” Lucy joked and heard a small laugh. “But on a less literal viewpoint… I care about you too. More than I cared to admit. Enough that I moved my plan forward because I was worried that my concern for you might ruin it.”

At these words The Mistress silently led Lucy to the other side of the room before pulling her down onto the bed with her. Lucy’s face flushed as she tried to get up, but The Mistress’ hand grabbed hers.

“Please just lay with me,” The Mistress pleaded, and Lucy relented.

The Mistress snuggled up beside Lucy, and soon The Mistress’ rhythmic breathing told Lucy that she’d fallen asleep. Lucy thought about getting up, but The Mistress seemed to sense this plan. The Mistress’ arms wrapped around her and pulled her close. Realizing that escape was beyond her grasp, Lucy tried to get comfortable and closed her eyes. She felt her body relax as the world around her dimmed.


	33. Doctor Morty

A loud knock on the door woke Lucy from her nap. Orion entered the room and gave The Mistress a scowl, which she returned with a smirk. Lucy got up from the bed and smoothed out her suit.

“What do you need, Orion?” The Mistress asked airily and stretched out her arms. 

“That man is back,” Orion responded, still glaring at The Mistress. He shifted in place nervously and continued, “He wants to speak to Lucy.”

“That man?” Lucy asked irritably.

“The one whom you talked with before. I believe you said that he was your friend.”

“Oh! Eddie!” Lucy whispered fretfully and ran her fingers through her hair before bolting past Orion and down the hall.

Eddie was waiting by the front door with Mary and Ally chatting with him animatedly. Catching sight of herself in a mirror, Lucy took a second to try to tie up her hair before she descended the staircase. Eddie caught her eye when she was almost at the bottom step and excused himself from Mary and Ally. He gave Lucy a smile and a hug, but she could tell that something was bothering him.

“Could I speak to you and the professor alone? There’s something that you need to know. Both of you,” Eddie said in a serious, hushed tone. 

Lucy looked at him for a second before leading him up the stairs to The Mistress’ room. There were hushed, angry whispers coming from the room as they approached, but Orion and The Mistress grew quiet as Lucy and Eddie walked into the room. 

“How may I help you, detective?” The Mistress asked with barely concealed malice.

“Could you leave the room, Orion? Eddie has something that he need to discuss with The Mistress and me in private.”

Orion gave Eddie a glare before he walked to the door. Eddie returned the stare with a curious look, and Orion relaxed and closed the door. 

“So what did you find, detective? Any secrets of mine that you managed to unearth?” The Mistress asked in a light-hearted voice, but Lucy could tell that she was both irritated and defensive.

“Well, I know that your alias as ‘Professor Jones’ is fake. And I can’t say much more for ‘Esther Smits.’ But… I’m not here for that. I’m here to ask you about another teacher at the university, a Dr. Morty Miller.”

Lucy looked at him with a worry and replied, “Did something happen to him?”

“Morty Miller… don’t recall that name,” The Mistress said casually. “Did he disappear as well?”

“No… well, um, yes, but not quite under the same circumstances,” Eddie replied uneasily. “A student ran into the police station a couple days ago and told us that she’d seen him kidnap another student. When we got to his apartment, the place was empty.”

Lucy stared at Eddie with abject terror. Some kind of alien must have taken over Dr. Morty’s form; the teacher she knew was kind and understanding. One way or another Lucy would find the solution to this now. The Mistress had no more excuses to not get involved. 

“And why are you telling us about this?” The Mistress asked with light condescension. “Do you think that I’ve now… compelled some man or that I’m to blame?”

“No. You’re not a person of interest in this disappearance,” Eddie snapped back bitterly. “I’m here to ask… no, plead for the both of you to come back and let me put you in protective custody.” Eddie’s eyes pleaded with Lucy to agree with him, but she stubbornly stared back.

“Why, Eddie?” Lucy asked with waning patience.

Eddie scratched his head nervously and answered, “It was what we found inside his apartment. There were pictures of The Mistress and you all over his wall… and please, Lucy. I know you don’t want to come back just yet, but… please, at least until we find him.”

“What else?” The Mistress spoke up in a cold tone.

“Uh, excuse me?”

“You wouldn’t be so insistent if there wasn’t more to this… little story. We are safe here and far enough away that it took you, a detective, two years to find me. What haven’t you told us?”

“Well, uh,” Eddie stammered. “He left in a hurry. He’d tried to burn it with some papers, I guess the fire went out before… There was a photo of this house.”

Lucy observed The Mistress to see her reaction. The Mistress’ face had grown white, and she paced the room. Eddie looked to Lucy for an explanation. She just shrugged and waited for The Mistress to say something.

“Are you absolutely sure that it’s this house?”

“Without a doubt,” Eddie answered matter-of-factly. “There was a partial address on the back as well. Some of it burned, but it was pretty clear that this is the house.”

The Mistress cursed before walking quickly out of the room and down the hallway. Lucy followed behind after seeing an irritated look on Eddie’s face; what was The Mistress up to? The Mistress stopped on the staircase and looked around.

“Oh, good. Everyone’s here. Ally, Mary, Emmy,” The Mistress announced to the foyer.

“Emily,” Lucy corrected irritably.

The Mistress cleared her throat and continued, “Whatever. There is currently a possibly dangerous individual after myself, and as such I must let you go. I will pay you your wages for the rest of the month, but you will need to find a new source of employment. Thank you for your time here, and I’m grateful for your efforts. You are more than welcome to stay the night, but Orion, Lucy, and I will be leaving the next morning on an extended vacation until this man is brought to justice. Is that good enough for you… detective?”

The Mistress left the foyer with a flourish, leaving Eddie at the mercy of the curious and worried Mary and Ally. Lucy followed The Mistress back into her room with Orion two steps behind her. Orion closed the door behind them to block out Emily’s questioning stare.


	34. Game Plan

“What’s going on?” Orion asked in a hushed tone. “Someone is trying to hurt Lucy?”

“Possibly… hey, wait, he’s after me too,” The Mistress stared daggers at Orion.

“I believe that you will be fine,” Orion answered flippantly. “The devil himself would have a hard time dealing with you.”

“So I’m a damsel in distress?” Lucy asked irritably.

“No! You are capable… I just,” Orion faltered. “I want to make sure you’re safe.”

“So long as we leave soon, we’ll be fine,” The Mistress interjected and looked to the door. “As soon as the detective leaves, we can just hop into the TARDIS and go. So start packing.”

Lucy nodded but felt odd. Perhaps it was because this manor had been like home to her for the past couple of years. The door opened suddenly, startling Lucy. Eddie walked into the room, followed by Mary, Ally, and Emily. Mary and Ally looked both terrified and curious, but Emily regarded them with a cold, angry demeanor. 

“I’ve just told them to start getting things ready,” The Mistress told Eddie with a smile.

“But—Lucy—I!” Eddie started but took a few seconds to calm himself. “You leaving isn’t a good plan either. This guy can follow you. We can make sure you’re safe. Please, Lucy, I know you. You can’t believe this is a good idea.” 

Eddie’s face looked desperate, and Lucy didn’t want to lie to him again. But what could she tell him? That they’d be on a time-traveling space ship. He’d think that she’d gone crazy; there had to be some other way to explain it. Some way to tell the truth but vague enough to not alarm him. 

Lucy bit her lip and looked away before she replied, “There’s a safe house that we can go to. It’s very hard to find unless you know exactly where it is. I’ll give you a number to call when you find the guy.”

“Lucy… this guy is dangerous. He’s already gotten seven other girls now. We can’t even find a trace of them, and I can’t just leave you here. He could nearby right now, waiting for you to leave.”

“Then stay the night,” The Mistress offered nonchalantly. 

“What?” Eddie and Lucy asked simultaneously.

“Stay here the rest of today and tonight. We’re still leaving in the morning, but if you want to make sure that we make it through the night, you can stay. The maids may need a ride in the morning anyway. And isn’t it your duty to protect them as well?”

Eddie clenched his hands and then released them before he answered, “Fine, but I need to call my chief and tell him what’s going on.”

Eddie stormed out of the room with Mary timidly following behind. Emily gave them a long look before she also left the room. Ally was the last to leave and looked like she wanted to say something. With a small sigh, she left the room, closing the door behind herself.

“Why?” Lucy hissed at The Mistress.

“Calm yourself, Lucy. He shouldn’t be a problem. Not unless you’re tempted to leave with him.”

“That’s not the problem. What if whomever or whatever is after us decides to go after him?”

“We won’t let it get that far,” The Mistress assured her. “The plant we found on Florana… It was enhanced to a degree which shouldn’t have been possible for that species. I can only think of one person… one Time Lady with that level of scientific expertise and disdain for other creatures, The Rani. My guess is that trap wasn’t for us. It was likely set for The Doctor, and we happened upon it before she could spring it.”

“So Dr. Morty is The Rani?”

“No, it’s more likely that this doctor is in her employ or being threatened or blackmailed into helping her. She is the second most notorious Time renegade.”

“And criminal, I assume,” Orion spoke up.

“That too,” The Mistress replied with her catlike grin. “Don’t worry. After all, Lucy and I installed that new tech. The one that can stun another TARDIS. We should at the very least be able to escape.”

“Why would she be making Dr. Morty kidnap girls?”

“No idea, but we’ll figure that out when we find her. I have a few ideas to where she might be.” 

“So what’s our game plan? We just charge in and hope for the best,” Lucy said irritably.

“That’s always worked for The Doctor,” The Mistress replied petulantly but sighed at the looks of reproach from Lucy and Orion. “Fine. We’ll figure out some kind of ‘game plan.’”

“I don’t really see any other choice at the moment,” Lucy admitted with a sigh.

The door opened again to reveal Emily with a scowl on her face. She looked at the three of them with suspicion before she said, “The detective is staying the night. Where should I put him?”

“Oh, I… uh… I’ve got him. Don’t worry,” Lucy replied and walked past Emily and jogged down the stairs. Eddie was peeking into the library and turned red when Lucy caught him.

“That won’t earn you any points with management,” Lucy teased.

Eddie laughed and replied, “Oh? I doubt that ‘Esther’ would give me any points anyway. She’s much too fond of her assistant.” 

The last part sounded bitter, but Lucy chose to ignore it for the moment and led him to a free room, grabbing sheets and a blanket as she went. When they got to the room, Lucy placed them on the bed.

“Oh, I can do that,” Eddie said looking embarrassed. 

“Oh, don’t worry. I know,” Lucy replied with a smirk.

“You look better, you know… Happier. It’s your choice whether you leave with her or not, but… I…”

“I know, Eddie,” Lucy said gently. “I’ll leave you to get settled in. Call for me if you need something.”

Eddie gave her a half-hearted smile as Lucy left and walked through the hall to her room. She needed to at least pack the essentials, and then they’d get to work on catching a time-traveling criminal. How delightful.


	35. Surprise Guest

The sun had almost completely disappeared over the horizon, and Lucy felt more and more nervous by the hour. She finished taking in the outside tablecloth and some of the decorations. Despite the fact that Lucy may never see them again, it felt almost disgraceful to leave some of the nicer pieces to the mercy or fury of Mother Nature. Lucy set them on a bench in the garage when a hand on her shoulder nearly caused her to drop them. Eddie let go of her quickly.

“Sorry, Lucy. Didn’t mean to scare you. I just wanted to let you know that we need to lock up.”

Lucy nodded and tried to hide her flushed face behind her hands. They had agreed to lock everything up and retreat inside when the sun went down, but Lucy had lost track of time. She walked inside the house with Eddie following close behind. Orion was reading in the library as they walked inside. The Mistress should be back by now. She had decided to go out and bring the TARDIS inside, so they could leave directly from her room in the morning. Lucy also suspected that The Mistress was wary that The Rani might try to steal it.

As if on cue, The Mistress walked down the steps with an easy grace. Her head held high as she inspected the manor. Mary and Ally had taken to playing cards in the kitchen, and Emily had confined herself to her room. The Mistress linked arms with Lucy and tugged her toward the dining room. 

“Excuse us for a moment, wouldn’t you, detective?” The Mistress called out and led Lucy into a corner of the room, making sure the door was closed behind them. 

“What are you doing?” Lucy asked now suspicious.

“I just wanted to ask you if you had any second thoughts now that pretty boy is here,” The Mistress whispered and looked toward the door. “I know that you’re… fond of him. Do you want to stay with him? Go into protective custody until this is all over?” The Mistress’ voice seemed calm, but there was an edge to it.

“No,” Lucy responded with certainty, and The Mistress relaxed. “We need to see this through. And I doubt that the police would be able to keep me safe anyway.”

The Mistress smiled and kissed Lucy on the cheek before leaving the room, clearly satisfied with Lucy’s answer. Lucy put her hand over her face in embarrassment and tried to calm down. She was certain that the person she liked in that way was still Eddie, but why was her heart fluttering? It was probably just nerves. There was a madwoman out to get her; it was no wonder she was sensitive. 

“Lucy?” Mary asked from the doorway. “Eddie’s going to play cards with us if you wanna join. Oh, and I wonder if Emily would like to play. Could you ask her?”

“Uh, sure. No problem,” Lucy lied to Mary’s face. Lucy would ask, but she was pretty sure that Emily was still angry with her.

Hesitantly Lucy walked to Emily’s door as she saw Mary taking her seat at the table. Mary gave Lucy an encouraging smile before she started to shuffle the cards for the table. Perhaps she knew more than she let on. Lucy gently knocked on the door. There was no answer except for an odd thump from inside the room. 

“Sorry if I scared you. I just wanted to know if you want to play cards with us. Mary too,” Lucy added and waited. There was another thump, louder this time, so Lucy opened the door. The room was empty except for two shoes on the ground by the window, which was open. Feeling a chill up her spine, Lucy looked out the window where Emily was being dragged by Dr. Morty into the forest. 

“HEY!” Lucy screamed and jumped out the window. She didn’t land perfectly, but she wasn’t badly injured. Bolting into the forest, Lucy hoped Emily’s struggling would buy Lucy time to catch up. Sure enough, the professor looked like he was having a hard time with Emily’s flailing.

“Now, now, girl, I won’t hurt you,” Dr. Morty said to Emily, but she still tried to escape. 

Lucy picked up a large branch and charged at him. The branch hit him, but unfortunately it was too weak to do any damage. It must have rotted from the tree.

“Oh, Lucy!” Dr. Morty said excitedly. “Did you want to make a trade? You for her? How noble.”

“No, I’m going to kick your ass!” Lucy shouted and tried to kick him, but he used Emily as a shield.

“Easy there, or you’re going to hurt your friend.”

Lucy hesitated, and Dr. Morty drew out a stun gun. 

“Now I’m going to ask you to come with me or I’m going to have to use some… persuasive techniques.” 

Suddenly a dark figure swooped in from above, causing him to drop the stunner. D’Artagnan had shifted into the form of a hawk and waited for Lucy’s instruction.

“D’Artagnan, bo staff!” Lucy shouted, hoping that he’d remember the staff she had shown him in one of her old martial arts photos.

He quickly transformed into a staff, which she used to knock Dr. Morty off-balance. Emily took the opportunity to kick him in the groin. Dr. Morty collapsed onto the ground in pain, and Lucy grabbed Emily’s hand and ran out of the woods and almost ran into Orion and Eddie. 

“Into the house!” Lucy yelled, and they nodded and led the girls back into the house. 

Eddie locked the door behind them as Lucy checked Emily. There was an odd collar around her throat, and Lucy fiddled with it to get it off. Once it was removed, Emily started coughing.

“What the hell was that?” Emily asked, breathing heavily. “And what the hell is that?” Emily pointed at D’Artagnan, who got scared and turned into a mouse and crawled up Lucy’s sleeve. 

Looks of disbelief and astonishment were on everyone’s faces except Orion’s as Lucy surveyed the damage. This was going to take a lot of explaining.


	36. Answers

“Come upstairs if you want answers,” The Mistress called from the top of the staircase. “Quickly. I don’t know what he has up his sleeve, and we want to be gone by the time he recovers.” 

The Mistress walked to her room, and Lucy started walking up the stairs with the collar in her hand. She made a “follow me” gesture. Soon everyone walked up the stair into The Mistress’ room where a blue telephone box sat in the middle of the floor with its door open to the inside of the TARDIS.

Lucy quickly ran inside and asked The Mistress in a whisper, “What are you doing?”

“This is the fastest way to get everyone to safety. Once inside he won’t be able to get to us so easily. Boys, could you bring in the mattress? We’re going to need more furniture.”  
Eddie and Orion did bring in the mattress behind the maids, who were looking both stunned and confused. Mary and Ally whispered back and forth, while Emily looked around in a tranquil fury. Orion shut the door behind them. Lucy was glad for the sense of protection that gave her. 

Eddie grabbed Lucy’s arm and asked, “What is this?”

“A space ship,” The Mistress answered and swatted away his arm from Lucy. “The maids have seen it before although… I had to… adjust their memories a bit. Apologies but it was necessary.”

“Was it?” Emily spoke up, enraged. “You had no right.”

“And you had no right to go snooping around,” The Mistress countered. “I’m an alien on a strange planet. Of course, I wouldn’t let just anyone know about my ship. You should be thanking Lucy. I was fully prepared to kill you to keep this a secret; she’s the one who recommended that I just alter your memories.”

Mary and Ally looked terrified, and Emily stared The Mistress down with rage in her eyes. Eddie got between Emily and The Mistress.

“That’s… not okay. At all. Did you just admit to planning murder in front of a detective?” Eddie asked with a quiet rage brewing in his eyes.

“Oops,” The Mistress said with fake shock. “I didn’t ‘plan’ to kill them. It would have been self-defense. If they told someone, what do you think would have happened to me? You just saw one of my kind tonight. And that one wasn’t even one of my enemies. At least… not until tonight.”

“Wait,” Lucy said, and everyone’s attention turned to her. “Dr. Morty’s not human.”

“No. He’s a Time Lord. The Monk. The second that I saw him in the yard I knew. We can sense each other if we get close enough. I wonder how he managed to fool me before.”

“A ‘Time Lord?’” Eddie asked. “So this ship…”

“Yeah, it’s also a time machine,” The Mistress said flippantly, not seeming to care about secrets anymore. “So here’s the plan. I’ll take Ally, Mary, and… Emily wherever they want to go, and, yes, you will still get your money. Then, detective, I’ll take you home, and then Orion, Lucy, and I will plan on taking care of this… problem. I had to waste a perfectly fine piece of real estate on him; I hope he’s happy.”

“No!” Eddie said and looked to Lucy. “Let’s go home. You don’t have to be a part of this madness. We can go home… and just… sleep at this point. I really just need some sleep, and then… we’ll deal with whatever comes our way.”

“Afraid it won’t be that easy, detective,” The Mistress said with a fake smile. “She’s my companion which means that he’ll definitely try to use her against me somehow. By torture or holding her hostage… no, she stays with me.”

“Then so will I,” Eddie replied stubbornly.

“I’d still like to know what the hell that thing is,” Emily interjected and pointed to Lucy’s sleeve. 

“Well, considering that he most likely saved your life, I’d say he’s your savior,” Lucy snapped at Emily making her flinch. “Should you really be scaring him?”

Emily looked down for a second before she said, “Okay. Whatever. That’s… whatever. But basically, ‘Esther,’ you just admitted to wanting to kill us, and now what? You want to buy our silence?”

“Pretty please,” The Mistress replied and batted her eyelashes. “Your mother will be well taken care of. I’ll see to that personally. Mary, your grandfather will receive the best medical care, and, Ally, your family’s debt will be cleared. Is that not enticing enough?”

Ally replied, “I’m kind of sold on the idea.”

“Me too,” Mary replied and looked at Emily hesitantly. “Look, I’m not saying we forget all of this, but… I’m willing to accept her conditions.”

Emily rolled her eyes and asked Lucy, “You’re really okay with this? Wow, you really are as messed up as she is.”

“So where do you want to go?” Lucy asked before anyone else could speak out against Emily. Normally Lucy would at least passive-aggressively mess with Emily out spite, but today it seemed too much. Emily had nearly gotten choked out by a Time Lord. Today could be a free pass.

“Home,” Ally replied. “You don’t think that he’ll come after us, do you? He already tried to get Emily.”

“Only because she was alone, but I’ll make arrangements for protection,” The Mistress said and looked to Eddie, who reluctantly nodded. 

“I’d like to go to my boyfriend’s house,” Mary spoke up. 

Emily was unnaturally quiet, and Lucy realized with a start that she might not have anywhere else to go. Her mother was hospitalized. Lucy had never heard her talk to or about any other family members or friends.

“Um, maybe it’d be better for Emily to stay with us for the time being,” Lucy said. “He got a really good look at her, and the TARDIS, the ship, is probably the safest place for her. It’s just a suggestion.”

Emily looked down and sighed. 

“I guess that’s fine… for now,” Emily agreed. 

The Mistress put in the coordinates for Mary and started the ship. Eddie grabbed ahold of Lucy as they took off. He was silent, but Lucy could tell from his eyes that he was not satisfied with the answers that he’d been given. Silently hoping that they could quickly solve this issue with The Monk, Lucy relaxed into his arms.


	37. Second Chances

Lucy woke up to find The Mistress staring at the console of the TARDIS with a look of intense concentration. Eddie and Orion had decided to sleep in the room with the bunkbed, and Emily had taken the other room. Lucy had been content to sleep on the mattress that Eddie and Orion had brought inside. Watching The Mistress silently, Lucy tried to focus on what question she wanted to ask.

“Are you okay?” Lucy asked sleepily.

The Mistress jerked up in surprise and looked to where Lucy was still laying on the mattress. The chair made a soft creak as she got up from it and walked over to Lucy. Sitting on the other side of the mattress, The Mistress took one of Lucy’s hands in her own. 

“Yes, I’m fine,” The Mistress replied distractedly.

“You don’t sound ‘fine,’” Lucy pointed out in a whisper. “You’re worried about Doctor Mort— The Monk and The Rani, aren’t you?”

The Mistress gave her an appraising eye and asked, “Were you close to him? The Monk in his disguise?”

“Not particularly, but he was always pretty supportive of my work. And after my family… he sent me some flowers and a letter of… encouragement, I guess. He told me not to give up, and that my family would be proud of me… But I guess he was just considering using me for something.”

“I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“Him turning out to be someone completely different. I can’t imagine that being pleasant.”

“It’s not, but… I’m a bit relieved. I felt bad about my sudden disappearance and how he must have felt to see a student disappear, but now… I guess he never really cared. It’s kind of freeing.”

“You know… I’m more like them than The Doctor,” The Mistress said nervously playing with Lucy’s hand. “I’ve done… bad things. Horrible things. I… I’d understand if you want to leave when this is all over. Don’t answer now. I don’t want to get my hopes up. Odds are that they will find a way to tell you things about me and my past. I would tell you now, but… I can’t. You’re all I have right now. Although later you may not want to stay with me, and I understand.” 

The Mistress’ face was downcast, and her hand shook slightly as she held onto Lucy’s. Lucy sat up and put her other hand on top of The Mistress’.

“The things you did before… the horrible things, would you do them now?” Lucy asked point-blank, shocking The Mistress whose grip tightened on hers.

“No. Of course not. I’d kill to protect us in a heartbeat, but… no. Nothing like I’ve done before. That’s why I started all of this… I want to get better. To be better. At first it was just for The Doctor’s approval, but now… I just want to be a better person. To do good and maybe even make up for the bad I’ve done. You’re probably the reason for that.”

“Me?”

The Mistress looked at Lucy with a sincere smile and said, “Yes, you. Especially now. And I feel like we’ve got a second chance. We were both hiding things from each other. After this business with The Rani and Monk is all over, I feel like we can get a fresh start. Maybe even find The Doctor.”

Lucy smiled in return and replied, “I’d like that. Very much.”

The Mistress pulled Lucy close, resting her head on Lucy’s shoulder. She whispered into Lucy’s ear, “My real name… the one I used while I was still at the academy is Koschei. That one may be a bit dangerous to use though… so why don’t you just call me Missy from now on? It’s much more informal.” The Mistress had started to ramble in embarrassment, so Lucy cut her off with a small hug.

“Okay, Missy,” Lucy said releasing her. “Should we find a way to contact The Doctor? I assume that she’ll or he’ll find a way to meddle with or without us… Why didn’t you want The Doctor to see you before? If you wanted to impress him so badly?”

“I didn’t know which incarnation of him was there. He thought that I was dead for a good long while, and even the last time that I saw him… he probably thought I died at the hand of my former incarnation, but that was just a Ganger. I was able to create a duplicate of sorts. It even thought that it was me. I remembered that I killed my previous incarnation, so… I decided to make the Ganger. Not that I knew it at the time. A stable time loop of sorts.”

“That’s… super confusing. And I’m still super tired. But the gist of all of that is: you couldn’t trust yourself, so you made a contingency plan. And a clone.”

“Exactly. Now I just need to make sure that The Doctor I contact is after that point in time. I don’t want to create any new problems. Back in New York… you said that The Doctor was a woman, correct?”

“Yup,” Lucy replied and laid back on the bed.

“So… I’m betting that was his next incarnation. I’ve never heard of him being a woman before… or at least before this incarnation. How exciting. We need to make sure that she’s the one who gets called to fix this problem.”

“Great. Sounds super easy,” Lucy said with a yawn, and D’Artagnan crept from his bed in the corner to Lucy’s arm. Lucy smiled; she had been finally forgiven.

“I’ll work out the details, my sweet. You get some rest. I’ll get to work. If she is The Doctor, then I’m assuming that she’ll get, or already has gotten, into trouble. After all, there is no one better at finding trouble than my dear Doctor.” 

Lucy watched Missy run to the controls once again but now with renewed vigor. D’Artagnan shifted into a cat and snuggled into Lucy’s arm. Lucy closed her eyes, and once again the world turned to darkness as sleep took hold.


	38. Goodbye Orion

By the time Lucy had reawakened, Missy was in a much better mood. Singing as she steered the ship, Missy noticed that Lucy was awake with a cheery grin. Lucy looked at Missy with a raised eyebrow.

“The group and I got a lot of things sorted while you were sleeping. Orion and Emily are going to Florana until we get this sorted. Your Eddie,” Missy said with some distaste. “He says that he’s not leaving. Not unless you go along with him. So… what do you say to that?”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Lucy responded stubbornly, and Miss tried to hide a grin. “Where are they?”

“In the rooms. I suspect that Emily and Eddie want to avoid me, and Orion is using some contraption to contact his family. They’ll welcome him and Emily.”

A door opening caught Lucy’s attention, and Orion came out of the room and looked at Lucy bashfully. 

“Lucy, could I talk to you? …Privately?” Orion asked before looking to the ground.

Lucy answered awkwardly, “Uh, sure. No problem.”

Missy made an irritated sound as Lucy walked to the room and followed Orion into it. Lucy quietly shut the door behind herself. Orion fidgeted with a button on his sleeve, and Lucy gave him a curious look.

Orion messed with his hair and replied, “I wanted to ask you if you would return to my planet with me one last time, but… I heard what you said. You intend to stay with her no matter the consequence. I don’t like it, but I also respect it. Emily will be safe, and my people do have the capability to send her back to Earth in the event that you and The Mistress… cannot.”

“Thank you, Orion,” Lucy said with a genuine smile, causing Orion to blush. “That’s a relief. And I know that you’ll look after Emily. You’re a good man, Orion.”

Orion blushed and replied bashfully, “A foolish one. I knew that you wouldn’t follow me home from the beginning, but I had to try. Like a fool trying to catch a shooting star.”

“This is a nice moment. Don’t ruin it with sappy quotes,” Lucy said but smiled to let him know that she was joking. 

The door opened, scaring both of them. Eddie looked at them, at first confused then angry. 

“Oops!” Missy called out with fake cheer. “Sorry, love. The closet must be the other door. This place is just so big.”

Eddie turned to glare at her before Lucy stepped out of the door.

“No worries. We were done talking,” Lucy said and walked to the control panel to give Missy a calculating glance. Missy pursed her lips as though contemplating saying something more but landed the ship instead without comment.

“No worries, detective. I don’t think that I’ll be needing my coat after all,” Missy said in a singsong manner as Eddie once again glared at her. “You’re home, Orion! How exciting for you! … and me.”

Orion gave her an irritated glance before turning to Emily with a smile. He held out his arm, but she walked past him to Lucy.

“You’re really staying here? I thought that you had plans to leave,” Emily said to Lucy accusingly.

“I did, but… I decided to stay,” Lucy responded with a quick glance in Missy’s direction. “That’s the thing about decisions, Emily. Sometimes they change.”

“For the better or worse?” 

“No idea. Guess we’ll have to see the outcome. But I have no intention of allowing those people to get away with what they’ve done.”

Emily gave Lucy a long look before shuffling uncomfortably in place. Finally, she said hesitantly, “I never thanked you… for saving me. And although I don’t trust you in the slightest… thank you for what you did.”

Emily calmed herself before she walked to the door where Orion waited patiently. Orion opened the door and led Emily out the door. With a hesitant look back to Lucy, Emily grabbed the door and said, “I hope you make it back. Good luck.”

The door slid closed, and Missy sighed.

“Lucy gets a thank you, and what do I get?” Missy asked irritably.

“Well, you did mind-wipe her. What did you really expect?” Lucy replied, and Missy shrugged. “So how are we going to find The Doctor?”

“We aren’t,” Missy replied with a conspiratorial look to Lucy’s confused stare. “We’re going to let her find us.”

“How are you going to do that?” Eddie spoke up with irritation. “And who is this doctor? Why is finding him so important?”

“Because he… she’s the one who can help us catch The Monk. She’s particularly good at that. Catching bad guys, ruining perfectly laid out plans, saving people…”

“Why do you sound so bitter about that? And this doctor… is she one of you, a time whatever?”

“A Time Lord, yes. Or rather we need to find her as a Time Lady. Gender is much more… fluid for our kind. We can regenerate into a new form if our bodies get damaged enough, but we can’t always control it,” Missy explained off-handedly as Lucy watched Eddie try to digest all of this weird, new information.

“You didn’t say why you’re so bitter,” Eddie said with a small smirk.

Missy glared in return and set coordinates. The TARDIS took off with an odd sound, and Lucy gave Missy a concerned glance. Was Missy distracted again, or was there something wrong with the ship? The concern on Missy’s face made Lucy think that it was the TARDIS. At least they could use The Doctor’s TARDIS to get any parts that they needed to repair the ship. Lucy gave the ship a reassuring pat. 

“So… have you met this doctor?” Eddie asked Lucy quietly.

“Yeah. A couple times. In a couple different regenerations. Don’t worry. The Doctor’s… odd but dependable. She’ll find a way to solve this.”

Eddie nodded, but he didn’t look fully convinced. Lucy watched Missy pilot the ship and checked the coordinates. Why were they going back to the manor? Although… they’d be there a few days after the incident. Have faith, Lucy thought to herself and looked to Missy. After all, who better to combat an evil threat than an evil genius?


	39. Back to the Manor

“Why are we back here?!” Eddie asked angrily. “Isn’t this the first place they’re going to look?”

“Oh, detective. We’ll only need a few minutes if everything goes according to plan, and it’s been a few days,” Missy replied stepping around Eddie to leave the TARDIS and walk over to the closet.

“What? No. No, it hasn’t. Has it?” Eddie asked Lucy in confusion.

Lucy sighed and answered, “Not to us but the ship is a time machine. She just set it forward a little bit. I assume Missy has some sort of machinery to contact The Doctor here.”

Missy turned around to give Lucy a smile and pulled out a strange contraption. Mostly it looked like a very odd microwave with added parts. She turned a few dials, and the machine beeped twice before going quiet.

“That’s it? Or did it not work?” Eddie asked.

“Oh, ye of little faith. It worked. What were you expecting? A lot of noise? Maybe some fireworks?” Missy retorted. “All we need to do is wait. She’ll be here soon.”

“And how do you know that? Or even that she’ll be the ‘regeneration’ that you need.”

“I set the parameters of the machine to only contact her after I left the TARDIS last time. I left a handy little trinket on her TARDIS last time. And that’s what the machine called. I always have a contingency plan or two,” Missy said with a wink.

Eddie opened his mouth to retort when a sound caught his attention. Lucy caught Missy’s eye; it was The Doctor landing her Tardis somewhere on the grounds. Missy quickly bolted from the room towards the sound. Lucy caught Eddie’s annoyed look at Missy before they decided to catch up to her. By the time they found Missy; The Doctor had left the blue phone box and was soon enveloped in a hug by Missy. The Doctor looked at her with shock then smiled. The Doctor noticed Eddie and Lucy entering the room. Giving Lucy a confused look then one of realization, she tilted her head and squinted. 

“It was you,” The Doctor said as Missy let her go. 

“Yeah,” Lucy replied. “The sewers thing in New York.”

The Doctor nodded and said, “And with Byron. Your cloaking gadget malfunctioned. I wasn’t able to get a good look at the time, but… that was you, wasn’t it?”

“Guilty as charged, but if we could get a move on, that’d be great. The Monk is after me for some reason,” Lucy replied quickly. She tried to act calm, but truthfully, she was getting more nervous by the second. No doubt that The Monk had left some kind of tech to alert him of their return.

The Doctor looked around and quickly walked past Lucy and Eddie to go to Missy’s room where her TARDIS sat quietly. Turning around to look at Missy with sad eyes, The Doctor asked, “She’s dying, isn’t she?”

Missy looked downcast and replied, “I… we tried everything to fix her, but she’s still declining. I even took her to Cardiff before going to Fantazix… Nothing is working.”

“Is that the real reason you called me here?” The Doctor asked quietly. “You know that if you can’t fix her neither can I.”

“No, as Lucy said, The Monk has been hiding on Earth as well. And he attacked one of my servants.”

The Doctor looked to Lucy before looking at Missy and replied, “Is she okay?”

“Yes,” Missy said nonchalantly. “She’s staying with the royal family on Fantazix. They’re more than capable of warding off any attackers… that aren’t me.”

The Doctor gave her a tired look and replied, “So why are they after Lucy?”

“No idea,” Missy replied furiously. “I just need your help to ask them that question.”

“They’re also responsible for kidnapping several women at a college. Maybe even more that I don’t know about,” Eddie chimed in, surprising The Doctor and Missy. “We need to save those women… or get justice if we can’t.”

The Doctor looked at Eddie approvingly as Missy glared at him. With a pep in her step, The Doctor led them back down the hall to her TARDIS. As they entered, they took a look around. Lucy had already seen it before, but she noticed that The Doctor had done some interior work since Lucy had last seen it.

“Where are your companions?” Missy asked The Doctor.

“I left them behind. For now. A strange device that you left started going off. Quite frankly I’m surprised that I’m not in a worse situation. How… how did you survive? I found your body.”

“No, you found the body of the enhanced Ganger that I created. I remembered enough about my confrontation with myself to realize that I wouldn’t make it out alive if I stayed. So… I made a replacement that could even fool myself.”

The Doctor nodded, and Eddie looked more confused than ever. Lucy didn’t fully understand what happened, but she knew enough to know that they had more important things to discuss.

“So how do we find them?” Lucy asked carefully. “It’s not like they’re going to have a big sign that says ‘Evil Kidnapping Time Lords Here’ above their hideout.”

“Well, it’s safe to assume that their TARDIS is either malfunctioning or gone. Where did you get your TARDIS by the way?” The Doctor asked Missy with narrowed eyes.

Missy guiltily looked away and answered, “I left one here in case I needed to escape from you. In theory, it could have belonged to one of them originally.”

Eddie said angrily, “Is that why they’re here? That might be why they tried to steal Emily. To ransom back their time machine. Why don’t you just give it back?”

“Because that wouldn’t be good enough for them,” The Doctor answered. “The TARDIS was already starting to break when you found her, right?” Missy gave a short nod. “Then they likely abandoned her because of some malfunction. Right now… they probably have a different motive in mind. As for finding them, I suspect that they’ll find us.”

Eddie looked perturbed and turned to Lucy. “Can I please talk to you in private? Now?!”

Eddie walked out of the TARDIS, and Lucy turned to Missy, who gave her a shrug. The Doctor gestured for her to follow him. Lucy nodded and followed Eddie to the library.


	40. The Trap

“Okay, so I understand that we’ve already kind of boarded this train to crazy town, but… are you sure that this is what you want to do?” Eddie asked incredulously. “I know that you always wanted to go to space, but is this really worth it?”

“Making sure Missy is safe is most definitely ‘worth it.’ Eddie... you’ve always been my best friend, and you should know that I can handle myself.”

“I do! But that’s against bullies and creepy guys at the convenience store. This is different! These people… they might have killed these women, and you’re walking straight into their trap.”

“I have faith in Missy and The Doctor,” Lucy said irritably. “They’ve gotten me out of scrapes before and they’ll do so again.”

“But were those against their own kind? Clearly these ‘Time Lords’ are at a different level from us. And sure, we might win, but there will likely be collateral damage. And I can’t let that be you,” Eddie said despairingly. “Barry was your brother, but he was also my friend. I can’t lose you too. I know that you’re still hurting, but this isn’t the way to go about it. You don’t think that the world losing you is a big deal. And you’re wrong. It’s a much better place with you in it. Believe me… And I’m an officer, Lu! Saving people is my job, my duty. But I can’t focus on that when you’re in the line of fire.”

“Hey, sorry to interrupt,” Missy interrupted in a tone that didn’t seem the least bit sorry. “But The Doctor wants to ask you about those girls. She might be able to key in on one of them to find The Monk’s base of operations.”

Eddie sighed and said, “Fine, but this conversation isn’t over yet.” 

Eddie left the room as Missy gave him a coy wave and messed with her watch. Lucy looked on in shock as Missy turned into Eddie. Missy in Eddie’s form gave Lucy a small smile of reassurance.

“Just getting him out of the way for the moment. The Doctor and I have a plan. You and I need to get captured. And I know that it’s not ideal, dangerous in fact, but I’m going to need for you to trust me,” Missy pleaded at Lucy with Eddie’s sad eyes.

“Okay, let’s hurry. That’s not going to distract him for long,” Lucy said, and Missy led her outside.

They checked along the forest line where The Monk had tried to take Emily. Splitting up to cover more ground, Lucy found a spot where a car had been camouflaged with long branches of trees. A chill went up her spine. If the car was still here, had The Monk never left?

Lucy tried to sneak back to where she’d last seen Missy, but she couldn’t find ‘Eddie’ anywhere. Calling out could be dangerous. It seemed that Missy’s plan involved both of them getting captured, and Lucy didn’t want to alert The Monk just yet. She paused to take a look around the woods. It wouldn’t be hard for him to get the jump on them here. Dense trees blocked her view from all sides. A crunching caught her attention, and she turned to see The Monk looking angry at himself.

“D’Artagnan! Go tell The Doctor!” Lucy yelled at him, but he wouldn’t budge.

The Monk laughed and said, “Quite a loyal, little fellow you have there. I’m quite interested to see how he works.”

Lucy whispered to D’Artagnan, “Hurry, buddy. I’ll be fine. Missy has a plan. Please go now.”

D’Artagnan turned into a sparrow and took off. The Monk raised a weapon to stun D’Artangnan, but Lucy slammed him to the ground. She needed to find Missy before she got captured. Recovering from the tackle, Lucy bolted toward the hill. The high ground might help her find Missy and alert her to the danger. A sudden jolt hit her in the back, and she collapsed to the ground. She couldn’t move.

Footsteps grew closer as Lucy started to inwardly panic. The Monk picked her off the ground with ease and carried her to the car.

“Hey!” Eddie’s voice called out as he raced towards them with lightning speed. “Let her go!”

Lucy shivered as The Monk sat her gently on the ground. Eddie’s face was contorted with fear and rage as he got closer. Either Missy was a much better actress than Lucy thought, or that was really Eddie. The Monk merely raised his weapon and fired a shot. Eddie fell to the ground.

“Now, now,” The Monk said cheerily. “The both of you need to behave. She wants you both alive. The girl and her champion.”

The Monk put them into the car and threw the branches off before getting inside. Lucy could feel some movement returning, but she wanted to keep quiet. Besides the inside of the car was an undercover cop car. A window separated the passengers from the driver, so there was little chance of Lucy’s attack being successful.

“What do you mean ‘champion’?” Lucy asked unable to contain her curiosity. The Monk probably knew how quickly his stun gun wore off anyway.

“Ah, The Rani talked to one of the Sisterhood of Kern. Well, one of its former members. She was a great prophet. One of the few who could look into the Fire of Life and see beyond. There’s a prophecy that you seem to be a part of. I am sorry that it had to be you. You were one of my favorite students, and I tried to find a… substitute. But it would seem that it has to be you.”

“What prophecy? What do you need me to do?” Lucy asked and tried to keep herself calm. “Or rather what are you going to do to me?”

“Very astute, child. I can’t tell you right now, but I can say that should it work… you will be the most powerful being alive. Although… I do not know whether or not you will be ‘you.’ You two should sleep for now. It’s a bit of a haul.”

Lucy wanted to retort back angrily, but suddenly, she felt very sleepy. Her vision faded to black as she heard “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” play on the radio.


	41. Lucy and The Mistress

The room seemed to spin around her as Lucy woke up. Whatever The Monk had gassed them with was clearly still in her system. Closing her eyes, Lucy tried to calm herself and remember what had happened. Eddie or Missy was captured too. Hopefully Missy had something in place even if that was the real Eddie.

“Oh, you’re up,” a voice said cheerfully, and Lucy opened her eyes. 

Luckily the room stood still. A woman with jet black hair and a wicked smile walked toward her. Was this The Rani? No, Lucy realized with a start. She knew that smile; it was The Mistress or an incarnation of her at least.

“So, you are my companion,” The Mistress said mockingly. “Well, to be honest I don’t see what future me sees in you. Clearly, I must be deranged now. So sad.”

Lucy cleared her throat and replied, “People tell me that I have beautiful blue eyes, but other than that… no, wait. I’m also intelligent, so I’ve got that going for me.”

The Mistress laughed and smirked at Lucy. Missy had a plan. She had been through this before, so she knew how it would play out. Lucy just had to keep The Mistress busy for it to work.

“What if I threatened to cut out your pretty blue eyes?” The Mistress said and held a knife to Lucy’s face. “What would The Doctor think? Would she be so forgiving?”

Lucy held The Mistress’ eye contact and didn’t back down. She said carefully, “I can’t speak for The Doctor, but I can speak for you. You wouldn’t let that happen to me.”

“Are you so sure about that? After all I let you get captured. Didn’t even try to save you.”

“Then do it,” Lucy said and hid her fear. She heard a noise, but The Mistress didn’t seem to notice. She just needed to keep The Mistress’ attention focused on her.

“What?”

“Cut out my eyes.”

The Mistress lifted the knife to Lucy’s face. Lucy was terrified, but she held The Mistress’ gaze. The binding around Lucy’s wrists was too tight for her to slip out of, and the chair wasn’t going anywhere. There was no other choice but to wait. Slowly the knife lowered. The Mistress’ cold eyes peered into Lucy’s, but Lucy noticed her hand begin to shake. The knife fell to the floor.

“Why? You kissed me. Why?” The Mistress asked accusingly. “Was it because you didn’t want me to hurt you? Was it because you wanted me to fall for you? What did you want from me?!”

“I have absolutely no idea what you’re talking about,” Lucy said; her eyebrows knitted in confusion. The Mistress glared at her, but her gaze softened when she realized that Lucy was telling the truth. “Perhaps it hasn’t happened for me yet. Did I have both of my eyes?”

“Yes,” The Mistress scoffed bitterly. “It was after my resurrection as Harold Saxon. I was cold, angry. And there was a horrible hunger.”

“Well, I haven’t done it yet, but if I had to guess… because I love you.”

The Mistress looked taken aback at first then suspicious. She stared at Lucy before she responded, “Why? What have I done that would make you care for me?”

“I don’t think that I can tell you that, but can’t you just trust me?”

“I don’t trust anyone!” The Mistress yelled with fury. 

“You trusted me,” Lucy said simply, and The Mistress seemed to be at a loss for words. “And you trust The Doctor. Even now, I bet. I know how you feel.”

“How would you know how I feel?!”

“Because I’ve been there. It’s easier being ‘broken’ than to fix yourself. You think that doing good things is weakness, but it’s actually the other way around. Strong people have enough strength to give to others.”

The Mistress snorted in laughter and asked, “Are you feeling strong right now? Tied up and helpless. I could do whatever I wanted, and you can’t stop me. Is that your definition of strength?”

“No, but I have faith. In you. And that gives me strength.”

The Mistress looked both furious and sad as she stared at Lucy. Knowing she had The Mistress’ full attention, Lucy continued, “I know you, and you’re better than they think you are… better than even you think you are. Please.”

“You’re barking up the wrong tree there,” The Monk said and walked into the room. “Honestly I thought that you’d be more persuasive. All of that cheesy, ‘you can do better’ garbage is quite sad to hear. The Master knows what she is.”

The Mistress nodded and corrected him, “It’s The Mistress now.”

“Oh, yes, sorry about that. Well, The Rani wants to go ahead and put her in the machine. The Doctor is here, and we need to make sure that everything goes according to plan. The others were tests, so the results didn’t matter as much. But now we have the genuine article,” The Monk said before looking contrite. “Once again, I am sorry, but if everything goes according to plan, you won’t die. You’ll just become something else.”

Lucy just glared at him and said, “You’re a disappointment.” 

The Monk paused but soon went back to preparing the machine. However, Lucy noticed that The Mistress had visibly flinched. 

“Damn! This knob is broken. It probably won’t cause any issues, but everything needs to be perfect. Or The Rani will have both of our hides. Could you get one from the drawer, Mistress?”

The Mistress silently went to the drawer and grabbed one of the knobs before returning to The Monk. After handing him one of the knobs, she paused and pushed him inside the machine. The door clicked closed and locked him inside.

“Mistress?! What are you doing? Do you want to be weak?”

“After some deep consideration, I’ve decided that her garbage is better than yours. Best of luck, Mortimus,” The Mistress said with glee as the machine activated.


	42. Into the Void

The Mistress untied Lucy and grabbed her hand. She ordered quietly, “Hurry up! We don’t have a lot of time. The Rani will figure out that I did something soon, and we need to be gone by then.”

Lucy followed behind her in a daze. Watching The Monk explode into dust had been relatively traumatizing, but Lucy would get over it. She still couldn’t believe that The Mistress had chosen her so quickly. 

“Don’t move! Wait, Lucy?” Eddie asked as though he had something in his throat.

Lucy turned around and was instantly pulled into a hug. The Mistress let go of her hand with a huff and asked irritably, “And who the hell are you?”

“Missy?” The Doctor asked confused as Lucy’s Missy soon followed him.

“Yeah, sorry. I was behind this one,” Missy said, and The Mistress looked at her in anger. “Now previous me, I need you to take this.” Missy handed The Mistress a small remote, and The Mistress looked confused. “Well, you can’t die here, and I don’t remember anything from this point forward. Also take this. It’ll make most of this blurry, but you’ll remember the important things. We need a stable time loop here.”

The Mistress nodded and took the pill as well. She looked to Lucy hesitantly, and Lucy nodded encouragingly. The Mistress pulled Lucy into a quick hug and whispered, “I’ll see you soon, Lucy.” Without a look back, The Mistress walked away pushing a button on the remote and disappearing into the air.

Eddie grabbed Lucy’s arm and led her to The Doctor’s TARDIS. As they got inside, Missy gave Lucy a hug, and The Doctor started the TARDIS. Lucy noticed that they all looked much more distressed than she felt.

“What’s wrong? What are you not telling me?”

The Doctor just continued looking at the TARDIS screen and didn’t say a word. Missy seemed to be having trouble saying the words.

“The other one sent an explosive to detonate on the Earth,” Eddie explained worriedly. “She said that the only thing that could stop it was if it was to hit with a large ship before it got close to the Earth. So basically, we’re screwed.”

“I might have a plan,” Missy spoke up. “Eddie, I’m going to need you to go to the tool shed and get my welding gear, and, Lucy, there’s a key in the library in ‘The Almanac of Useless Knowledge.’”

Eddie and Lucy nodded, and as soon as the TARDIS took off they ran to get their respective assignments. But as soon as Lucy entered the library, she heard The Doctor’s TARDIS. She ran back to the room to find them both gone. Cursing under her breath, she realized their plan; they were going to use the TARDIS to hit the explosive early. An odd chime caught her attention, and she ran to Missy’s bedroom. 

There sat their TARDIS. The one that Lucy and Missy had worked so hard to rebuild, all for nothing, but now it’s mechanisms seemed to be belting out a clarion call. Eddie’s voice could be heard from downstairs. Lucy quickly locked the door behind herself and grabbed D’Artagnan, but he refused to move.

“Buddy, if you go with me… we won’t make it back,” Lucy told him, her voice breaking. “That’s the end. We’ll die. Eddie or Missy will take good care of you.”

D’Artagnan turned into a bird and flew into the TARDIS. Lucy wanted to dissuade him, but if she was going to catch up to The Doctor, she didn’t have time. As she heard banging on Missy’s door, Lucy ran into the TARDIS and started the engines. A tear slipped from her eye as she heard Eddie desperately calling for her. Taking off in the TARDIS, Lucy noticed that the TARDIS already had the coordinates plugged into the system. All she had to do was pilot. Soon she caught up to The Doctor’s TARDIS and flew behind his to save energy. A call came in from The Doctor’s TARDIS; Missy ordered her to stop then begged. Lucy ended the call and flew to the side of The Doctor’s TARDIS. Hitting the stunner, she dodged The Doctor’s now immobile TARDIS as it slowed to a screeching halt. She could see the object in the distance.

Lucy could feel her palms getting slippery with sweat and took off her gloves. Even now she admired them. With a sigh she put them into her coat pocket. She had just enough time to record a final message to Missy, so she quickly sat down and did so. She tried not to cry as the explosive got closer on her screen, and she ended the video with a smile.   
The moment the TARDIS made impact with the object everything around her began to glow with a radiant golden light. Time slowed, and things began to move in slow-motion. A figure stood before her cloaked in sunlight. Lucy held out her hand toward the creature without fear or remorse.

The woman smiled at her and said, “You are the Time Child, and your work is unfinished. Come to me. You are broken. I will fix you. For I am your champion.”

With that, the world around Lucy disappeared into the glowing light, and Lucy watched as her hand became golden. Then the world was no more.


	43. Goodbye

The Doctor watched in horror as the TARDIS carrying Lucy exploded into a golden mist. The Earth was saved, but Lucy was gone. Missy screamed Lucy’s name and cried before The Doctor pulled her into an embrace. With a death grip Missy clung to The Doctor as though for dear life. There was a beep from the console, and The Doctor read with guilt that it was sent shortly before the collision. If she had flown the TARDIS faster… but how was she to know what Lucy would do?

Missy noticed the message and ran to the console, nearly knocking The Doctor over in the process. Lucy’s face was on the screen now, causing Missy’s face to fall in despair.

“I’m sorry, Missy, but I can’t let you do this. It’s better this way. And… I’m not doing this out of despair like before… I want to live… with you and travel with you. But I can’t do that if you’re not there. Someone told me that the world is a much better place with me in it, but I believe it’s more so with you… I believe in The Mistress… my Missy. Please tell Eddie that I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. And… I love you. Goodbye, Missy,” Lucy said with a smile as the call ended, but The Doctor could see the tears in her eyes.

Missy clutched The Doctor again, and this time The Doctor held onto her more tightly. Thoughts rushed through The Doctor’s mind as she pulled Missy onto a couch beside her. They would need to return to Earth and show Eddie this tape. He was going to be angry at them, and he would not take this news well. The Doctor had seen the look in his eyes as he had stared down The Rani. If The Doctor hadn’t taken away his gun, there was no doubt that he would have shot her where she stood.

A realization hit her as she remembered what The Rani had told them. Her reasoning for the mess they were in. One of the Sisterhood of Kern had told her a prophecy of a young girl who would take on the powers of Time itself. The Doctor had thought that it was far-fetched, but now she was not so sure. The light that had engulfed the TARDIS hadn’t looked like a normal explosion. It had glowed with a pure golden light, taking the explosive with it. 

The Rani had thought that Eddie was the “champion” that could “save” the girl, but what if had been the TARDIS? What if “saving” her meant giving her the access to Time instead of saving her from it? The Doctor felt Missy rest her head on The Doctor’s shoulder. She would wait to tell Missy. Right now, it was all an implausible guessing game, and Missy would be doing all she could to hold everything together. Hope could be destructive. What if The Doctor was wrong and Lucy was gone? 

No, right now The Doctor would try to mend Missy as best as she could. Even if The Doctor was right, she didn’t have a clue on how to save Lucy. The best thing to do would be to go to Kern, find the sister, and let Missy shake the answers out of her. But that would have to be on another day. Missy still clutched at The Doctor’s shirt, reminding The Doctor of her fragility. The best The Doctor could do was say a prayer, or more accurately a wish, that The Mistress’s companion could be found.


End file.
